56,947 research outputs found
The ‘credibility paradox’ in China’s science communication: Views from scientific practitioners
In contrast to increasing debates on China’s rising status as a global scientific power, issues of China’s science communication remain under-explored. Based on 21 in-depth interviews in three cities, this article examines Chinese scientists’ accounts of the entangled web of influence which conditions the process of how scientific knowledge achieves (or fails to achieve) its civic authority. A main finding of this study is a ‘credibility paradox’ as a result of the over-politicisation of science and science communication in China. Respondents report that an absence of visible institutional endorsements renders them more public credibility and better communication outcomes. Thus, instead of exploiting formal channels of science communication, scientists interviewed were more keen to act as ‘informal risk communicators’ in grassroots and private events. Chinese scientists’ perspectives on how to earn public support of their research sheds light on the nature and impact of a ‘civic epistemology’ in an authoritarian state
China's absorptive State: research, innovation and the prospects for China-UK collaboration
China's innovation system is advancing so rapidly in multiple directions that the UK needs to develop a more ambitious and tailored strategy, able to maximise opportunities and minimise risks across the diversity of its innovation links to China. For the UK, the choice is not whether to engage more deeply with the Chinese system, but how.
This report analyses the policies, prospects and dilemmas for Chinese research and innovation over the next decade. It is designed to inform a more strategic approach to supporting China-UK collaboration
Government and Social Media: A Case Study of 31 Informational World Cities
Social media platforms are increasingly being used by governments to foster
user interaction. Particularly in cities with enhanced ICT infrastructures
(i.e., Informational World Cities) and high internet penetration rates, social
media platforms are valuable tools for reaching high numbers of citizens. This
empirical investigation of 31 Informational World Cities will provide an
overview of social media services used for governmental purposes, of their
popularity among governments, and of their usage intensity in broadcasting
information online.Comment: In Proceedings of the 47th Hawaii International Conference on System
Sciences (pp. 1715-1724). IEEE Computer Society, 201
Is China Systematically Buying Up Key Technologies? Chinese M & A transactions in Germany in the context of “Made in China 2025”. Bertelsmann Stiftung GED Study 2018
“Made in China 2025” (MIC 2025) is the Chinese central
government’s main industrial policy strategy aimed at
turning China into the global leader of the fourth industrial
revolution. Chinese M & A transactions abroad explicitly
belong to the instruments for implementing MIC 2025.
Germany is an attractive location for Chinese M & A transactions
and offers tailor-made know-how for MIC 2025 due
to its large number of “hidden champions”, i. e. technological
world market leaders in highly specialized niches.
64 percent or 112 of the 175 analyzed Chinese M & A transactions
with a share of at least ten percent in German companies
between 2014 and 2017 percent can be assigned to
one of the ten key sectors in which China aims to assume
global technology leadership with the help of MIC 2025.
On the one hand, there is a clear focus on the MIC 2025
sectors of “energy-saving and new-energy vehicles”,
“electrical equipment” and “high-end numerical control
machinery and robotics” – i. e. sectors in which Germany
can in part demonstrate significant competitive technological
advantages. Even before the introduction of MIC 2025
in 2015, however, these sectors were already a focus of
interest for Chinese investors in Germany.
On the other hand, key sectors that played little or no
role for Chinese M & A transactions in Germany have also
become increasingly important since the introduction of
MIC 2025. This is particularly evident in the MIC 2025
sector of “biomedicine and high-performance medical
devices”.
The majority of the 112 Chinese M & A transactions (just
under 60 percent) that are relevant for MIC 2025 are distributed
across only three German states: Baden-Württemberg
(26), North Rhine-Westphalia (22) and Bavaria (18)
– the very regions in which the majority of the German
“hidden champions” are located.
State-owned investors make up 18 percent of the Chinese
M & A transactions examined, and are therefore a minority.
However, taking into account only the M & A transactions
that can be assigned to the MIC 2025 sectors, their share
rises to around 22 percent – a possible indication of state
stakeholders’ greater interest in acquiring know-how
abroad for the implementation of MIC 2025.
However, the formal type of ownership of Chinese companies
does not show the full picture of potential state influence
due to the complex interplay between the state and
companies in China. Therefore, the great challenge for Germany
consists in the forms of state influence that are not
or only insufficiently reflected in the majority ownership
type of Chinese investors
Characterizing and Modeling the Dynamics of Activity and Popularity
Social media, regarded as two-layer networks consisting of users and items,
turn out to be the most important channels for access to massive information in
the era of Web 2.0. The dynamics of human activity and item popularity is a
crucial issue in social media networks. In this paper, by analyzing the growth
of user activity and item popularity in four empirical social media networks,
i.e., Amazon, Flickr, Delicious and Wikipedia, it is found that cross links
between users and items are more likely to be created by active users and to be
acquired by popular items, where user activity and item popularity are measured
by the number of cross links associated with users and items. This indicates
that users generally trace popular items, overall. However, it is found that
the inactive users more severely trace popular items than the active users.
Inspired by empirical analysis, we propose an evolving model for such networks,
in which the evolution is driven only by two-step random walk. Numerical
experiments verified that the model can qualitatively reproduce the
distributions of user activity and item popularity observed in empirical
networks. These results might shed light on the understandings of micro
dynamics of activity and popularity in social media networks.Comment: 13 pages, 6 figures, 2 table
Organic Food "Made in China"
China joined the international organic movement comparatively late. Challenged by the scarcity of arable land and a large population to feed, the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) for many years has been reluctant to support organic farming that might result in a drop of agricultural output. On the contrary, China’s “Green Revolution” catapulted the country to a leading producer and user of agrochemicals in the world. This development came at a high cost for the country’s environmental quality and food safety.
In recent years, accumulating public complaints about environmental pollution, food poisoning, sickness and death of farmers poisoned by agrochemicals as well as increasing difficulties with agricultural exports rejected as a result of excessive chemical residues are observed. It is not only because of the problems mentioned above that recently the MoA became more supportive towards the organic food development, authorities also realized the growing opportunities for healthy food in the international as well as the domestic market. In fact, China’s organic food development cannot be analyzed without taking into account the fast development of organic food industries in industrialized countries during the past decade. At present organically grown food “made in China” is still a small - though fast growing - sector. The article takes a look at the development and current status of organic agriculture and organic food industry in China and discusses the prospects and limitations of the sector
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