Supporting High Welfare Cage-Free Egg Production in China

HIGHLIGHTS: *This report or Guidance Memo is aimed at supporting cage-free egg production operations in China. It provides information regarding international best practices in relation to farm productivity and animal welfare in the context of the Chinese egg industry. *Collaborating and in consultation with local Chinese producers and animal welfare experts, and based on her surveys of cage-free farms in China, the author of this Guidance Memo offers practical information for key housing and management issues, including: Disease management; egg production; the provision of an appropriate environment; maintaining normal hen behaviors and avoiding mortality; humane killing on farm. *There is an emphasis on the importance in understanding, training and investment in key management aspects, particularly the prevention and control of severe feather pecking and infectious diseases in order to maintain a healthy flock and operate a successful and profitable production business. *This report shows compellingly that improving cage-free layer hen welfare in China is quite feasible and such improvement is hugely beneficial for producers and layer hens. Higher welfare cage-free systems are indeed increasing in China even though the vast majority of eggs in China are still produced in facilities with cages. *A Chinese translation of this Guidance Memo is available in late 2020

Big data and ICT solutions in the European Union and in China: A comparative analysis of policies in personalized medicine

Introduction: Several countries are either planning or implementing national strategies for the development and integration of Personalized Medicine (PM) into their healthcare systems. Personalized Medicine is an undisputed priority of the European Commission (EC), which has funded the project "Integrating China into the International Consortium for Personalized Medicine" (IC2PerMed), in order to ensure a common basis for Sino-European collaborations. By mapping the current PM landscape in the European Union (EU) and in China, IC2PerMed aims to provide key solutions toward a synergistic and coordinated approach in the field of PM. Methods: An extensive desk research was conducted, aimed at identifying documents on PM-related policies, programs, and action plans in the EU and in China, published up to November 2020. The search was conducted by exploring scientific and gray literature, and official institutional repositories. A descriptive summary condensed the information retrieved for both. Results: Since 2013, the year of publication of the first PM policy by the EC "Use of omics technologies in PM development," several documents have been published. PM is a key element of the policy agenda also in China, which in 2016 integrated PM into the 13th National Five-Year Plan, followed by the publication of several policies on technology infrastructure and big data. Both in the EU and China, especially in recent years, these policies addressed in detail the issues of big data, data interoperability and exchange, while defining the standards of information and communication infrastructures. Conclusions: In order to allow optimal collaboration, it is essential to understand similarities and differences between the respective policy strategies, with particular attention to data management and adopted infrastructures. The results of this project may enable the development of joint Sino-European research and innovation initiatives, promoting developments in the field of PM

Management of e-technology in China

"e" technology is bringing about many challenges for companies, in particular for their managers. This concerns a vast range of business processes in many sectors of the economy and in nearly every country of the world. In rapidly industrializing China, companies and other organizations are actively finding their way by adapting, developing and exploiting new e-technologies. The paper's focus is the identification of the management issues in implementing e-technology in China. The paper reports on research into difficulties of establishing and operating e-business in China. In particular, it discusses management related to e-technology sharing and application. A brief review of literature is followed by the analysis of three recent case studies: an international IT services alliance, a financial services provider and an international manufacturing joint venture. All case companies are applying e-technology in China, but the role of e-technology differs in the three cases: adding a service line to the existing business processes; developing a new business process; and increasing efficiency and effectiveness in business processes. The conclusions present the emerging management issues: cooperation is a key asset in networking; the choice of business models plays an important role; adequate management attention for details such as a training program is require

A framework for the successful implementation of food traceability systems in China

Implementation of food traceability systems in China faces many challenges due to the scale, diversity and complexity of China’s food supply chains. This study aims to identify critical success factors specific to the implementation of traceability systems in China. Twenty-seven critical success factors were identified in the literature. Interviews with managers at four food enterprises in a pre-study helped identify success criteria and five additional critical success factors. These critical success factors were tested through a survey of managers in eighty-three food companies. This study identifies six dimensions for critical success factors: laws, regulations and standards; government support; consumer knowledge and support; effective management and communication; top management and vendor support; and information and system quality

Fair Labor Association 2007 Annual Report

Assesses the progress made by companies in the move towards sustainable corporate responsibility in their labor standards. Breaks up data by company

Labour Administration Reforms in China

[Excerpt] This publication provides an explanation of the comprehensive labour administration system in China, including its recent advances, with emphasis on its public services functions, such as public employment, labour inspection and social insurance services. With the recent improvements to both the legal framework and the institutions of labour administration, it is believed that these public services will play bigger and more active roles in ensuring compliance with legislation and protecting the legitimate rights and interests of employers and workers alike

Governing autonomous vehicles: emerging responses for safety, liability, privacy, cybersecurity, and industry risks

The benefits of autonomous vehicles (AVs) are widely acknowledged, but there are concerns about the extent of these benefits and AV risks and unintended consequences. In this article, we first examine AVs and different categories of the technological risks associated with them. We then explore strategies that can be adopted to address these risks, and explore emerging responses by governments for addressing AV risks. Our analyses reveal that, thus far, governments have in most instances avoided stringent measures in order to promote AV developments and the majority of responses are non-binding and focus on creating councils or working groups to better explore AV implications. The US has been active in introducing legislations to address issues related to privacy and cybersecurity. The UK and Germany, in particular, have enacted laws to address liability issues, other countries mostly acknowledge these issues, but have yet to implement specific strategies. To address privacy and cybersecurity risks strategies ranging from introduction or amendment of non-AV specific legislation to creating working groups have been adopted. Much less attention has been paid to issues such as environmental and employment risks, although a few governments have begun programmes to retrain workers who might be negatively affected.Comment: Transport Reviews, 201

Business in the World of Water

The book aims to: 1) clarify and enhance understanding by business of the key issues and drivers of change related to water; 2) promote mutual understanding between the business community and non-business stakeholders on water management issues; and 3) support effective business action as part of the solution to sustainable water management. The report poses three scenarios about the possible future of water in 2025 which serve as catalysts for exploration into how businesses can contribute to sustainable water management