The role of government conduct in shaping productive forces remains a central subject of scholarly inquiry. Since the founding of the People’s Republic of China, it is necessary to conduct in-depth research and systematic summaries on what role the government should play in the development of productive forces, especially in scientific and technological development, where the effective boundaries lie, and what lessons history can provide, thus a systematic review is therefore essential. During the socialistconstruction period, the state acted as an “allencompassing architect”, instituting a centrally planned system for organizing and managing research, and this era was marked by comprehensive state direction of S&T, reflecting the socialist capacity to mobilize resources for major national initiatives. After the launch of reform and openingup, deepening understanding of the “plan—market relationship” drove a shift from direct micromanagement toward a role as “strategic guide and facilitator”, the formulation that “science and technology constitute a primary productive force” was adopted, and the national strategy of reinvigorating the country through science and education was implemented, seeking to combine government steering with the market’s decisive role in allocating S&T resources. Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, responding to the new wave of technological revolution and industrial transformation, the government’s role has further evolved into that of a “comprehensive innovator and global participant”, this most recent phase emphasizes strengthened Party leadership over S&T work, a dynamic synergy between an efficient market and a proactive government, and adherence to the “Four Orientations” —facing the frontiers of world science and technology, facing the main economic battlefield, facing the major national needs, and facing the people’s lives and health—to enhance innovation across the entire chain and all sectors, the aims are to boost S&T capability in a holistic manner, engage actively in global S&T governance, achieve greater selfreliance and strength in highlevel science and technology, and accelerate progress toward a worldleading S&T power.
With the accelerated penetration of the new round of technological and industrial transformation into the low-altitude domain, artificial intelligence (AI), as a new generation of general enabling technology, has become a key force driving the high-quality development of the low-altitude economy. To address the current gaps in AI-powered low-altitude economy research—particularly the lack of systematic analysis of enabling mechanisms and their transmission pathways, the need for more comprehensive and explanatory power in existing analyses, and the scarcity of real-world case studies—this paper adopts an AI-enabled approach. By integrating perspectives from technology, industry, institutional frameworks, and security, it systematically decodes the underlying mechanisms of AI’s empowerment in the low-altitude economy. The study further validates its practical applicability through a case study of JD Logistics.
The study shows that AI, through three mechanisms—operational efficiency improvement, safety risk control, and business ecosystem catalysis—effectively expands the efficiency boundary, safety boundary, and development boundary of the low-altitude economy. Based on this, the paper proposes a systematic implementation pathway for promoting collaboration in “technology-management-institution-ecosystem,” advocating for the deep integration of AI with the low-altitude economy through strengthening the intelligent operation foundation, building an all-encompassing safety trust system, and fostering an open and collaborative industrial ecosystem. This aims to provide theoretical insights and practical references for the development of new productive forces in the low-altitude sector and the promotion of high-quality industrial development.
Against the backdrop of the global digital transformation of manufacturing, Guangdong, as a major manufacturing province in China, has pioneered and innovatively proposed the “chain-based transformation” strategy. It guides and drives the coordinated transformation of upstream and downstream enterprises through key industrial chain enterprises, forming the “1+1+N” joint transformation mechanism, which effectively addresses the pain points faced by small and medium-sized enterprises in their digital transformation. This paper focues on the research on promoting the digital transformation path of manufacturing industry through “chain-style transformation”, from the perspective of the collaboration between chain master enterprises and specialized, refined, characteristic, and innovative enterprises (hereinafter referred to as SRCI enterprises), analyzes the internal logic of the dual-subject collaborative mechanism, and from the four-dimensional path system of "chain transformation", systematically analyzes the multiple empowerment paths. At the policy coordination level, implementing the “chain leader system” for overall coordination; at the model innovation level, constructing an ecology-led model of “leading large enterprises to drive small and medium-sized ones”; at the technology adaptation level, providing customized solutions for segmented industries; and at the ecological co-construction level, creating an integrated development pattern of digital technology infrastructure and industrial clusters. Through the two-way interaction between the technological spillover of chain master enterprises and the supporting innovation of SRCI enterprises, Guangdong has significantly elevated the overall digitalization level of the industrial chain. This research provides replicable Guangdong solution for the digital transformation of manufacturing and holds important enlightenment significance for building a modern industrial system.
Fuzhou City is one of the first batch of national marine economic development demonstration zones in China. Luoyuan County in Fuzhou is one of the core production areas for abalone farming in the country. A thorough summary of the typical experience of Luoyuan County in integrating into the “Maritime Fuzhou” “Maritime Fujian” to develop characteristic industries has practical significance for the integration of the national marine economy into the marine power strategy and the cultivation of characteristic industrial clusters in accordance with local conditions. This article firstly explains the necessity of the reform of aquaculture sea rights from the perspective of property rights economics;It secondly outlines the background of the aquaculture sea rights reform in Fuzhou City and the “three rights separation” system design, as well as the implementation of the aquaculture sea rights reform in Jianjiang Town, Luoyuan County, and discusses its important role in optimizing resource allocation, improving the financing environment, and enhancing the level of grassroots governance.It thirdly analyzes practical challenges and their causes in property rights incentives , organizational governance , and institutional provision. Finally, specific policy recommendations are proposed, focusing on strengthening both positive and negative property rights incentives, fully leveraging the role of the abalone association as well as cultivating new types of agricultural operating entities in the abalone industry, and strengthening local government guidance and support.
In recent years, cross-border e-commerce has become an important engine driving the export of Chinese textiles. To further enrich the relevant research perspectives and address the lack of empirical studies on the impact of cross-border e-commerce development on textile exports in China provinces, based on panel data from 31 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities in China from 2014 to 2023, this paper constructs an index system to measure the development level of cross-border e-commerce, and empirically analyzes its impact on the textile export trade of various provinces. The study shows that the development level of cross-border e-commerce significantly promotes the growth of textile exports across provinces. It promotes textile export mainly by reducing trade cost and improving supply chain response ability, and this conclusion has passed robustness tests. Further heterogeneity analysis indicates that the promotion effect of cross-border e-commerce development is stronger in the eastern and western regions of China. Therefore, different regions should implement differentiated strategies for cross-border e-commerce development, promote the digital transformation of the textile industry, accelerate the green development of the textile industry, and establish a comprehensive talent training system for cross-border e-commerce.
Tax penalties are a significant factor influencing taxpayer compliance in the standard A-S model and a crucial aspect affecting tax governance effectiveness and the quality of the tax business environment. Giving the ongoing divergence in empirical conclusions regarding tax penalties, this paper employs data from the National Tax Survey System of a major economically developed province in China from 2019 to 2022 to empirically analyze the influence of tax penalties on corporate tax compliance in China. The benchmark regression results indicate that tax penalties significantly reduce the degree of corporate tax evasion, thereby enhancing their tax compliance; In addition, the punished enterprises will release a policy spillover effect of severe tax and management deterrence on their peers, thereby motivating their peers to improve their tax compliance. Heterogeneity analysis finds that compared with state-owned enterprises and large enterprises, this effect is more significant for non-state-owned enterprises and small and medium-sized enterprises. Mechanism analysis shows that tax penalties primarily promote tax compliance through a reputation repair effect and a governance improvement effect. This study not only enriches the research on factors influencing taxpayer tax compliance, but also provides policy implications for continuously optimizing tax law enforcement methods and promoting high-quality and efficient tax development under the new circumstances.
Corporate philanthropy, characterized by voluntary and non-remunerative nature, is widely recognized as a vital component of corporate social responsibility and has garnered significant attention from all sectors of society. However, the academic community has yet to reach a consensus on the relationship between corporate donations and corporate earnings volatility. Moreover, in recent years, driven by extreme climate events, corporate donations have not only contributed to economic growth and shared prosperity but also exhibited herd behavior, leading to fluctuations in corporate earnings, and this poses a challenge to the long-term value of corporate social responsibility. To this end, this paper examines the impact of corporate donations on earnings volatility and its underlying mechanisms, using the 2020-2022 quarterly data of A-share listed companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen as the case study. The research is grounded in the catastrophic “7·20” heavy rain disaster in Zhengzhou, Henan Province. Employing the difference-in-differences model and propensity score matching, it quantifies the effects of media attention as a mediator and analyzes the influence of the social public opinion environment. The results show that corporate donation has a negative impact on the development of corporate earnings. While such donations may attract media attention, they tend to amplify short-term earnings volatility without translating into sustained growth, and among which both positive and negative media coverage can exert short-term upward pressure on corporate earnings, with negative news demonstrating more pronounced yet transient effects. Based on this, the following practical insights emerge for guiding corporate donations to balance social value and sustainable benefits: Relevant government departments should further refine incentive and guidance mechanisms to encourage rational and sustained corporate donations, while strengthening regulations and guiding media to properly fulfill their supervisory and promotional roles; Meanwhile, enterprises should avoid blind donation trends and, while fulfilling social responsibilities, maintain a focus on enhancing their core competitiveness.
The resilience of small and micro enterprises (SMEs) determines whether they can cope with crises and maintain long-term sustainable development, which is an important guarantee for a country to achieve high-quality economic development, therefore, accurately identifying the key factors and influencing mechanisms that determine the resilience of SMEs is of great significance. However, there is currently a lack of research from the perspective of digital inclusive finance. In the context of digital inclusive finance development and application, to fully harness the positive impact of digital inclusive finance on the resilience of SMEs, and to provide empirical references and theoretical support for cultivating their resilience, this paper focuses on SMEs, measuring their resilience from two dimensions of capacity for survival and development and risk response, uses the data of China Household Finance Survey (CHFS), the Peking University Digital Inclusive Finance Index (PKU-DFIIC), and the China Urban Statistical Yearbook from 2013-2019 to quantitatively evaluate the effects and mechanisms of digital inclusive finance on the resilience of SMEs.
The results show that digital financial inclusion has a significant positive effect on the resilience of SMEs, and it improves the resilience of SMEs mainly by reducing financial transaction costs and easing credit constraints. Among that, digital financial inclusion can play a significant role for individuals with lower entrepreneurship, junior high school or below, and younger and single operational project. Moreover, the effect of digital financial inclusion is more significant in the eastern and central regions of China, indicating that digital financial inclusion in the less developed western regions still needs to be further reinforced. Meanwhile, in regions with limited network coverage and low marketization, digital financial inclusion has a greater positive role. Finally, the positive effect of digital financial inclusion on the resilience of SMEs is greater for households with lower precautionary savings and without commercial insurance, indicating that digital financial inclusion can supplement the deficiency of household risk management, and further alleviate the risk contagion between households and enterprises. To this end, China needs to accelerate the digitalization of financial services and enhance the overall development level of digital finance, while fully leverage the advantages of digital inclusive finance, including broad coverage, low cost, and convenience, enhance the accessibility of digital financial services, reduce transaction costs caused by information asymmetry, and improve the financial literacy of SMEs operators, etc., to promote the balanced and healthy development of digital finance to enhance the resilience of SMEs.
The conclusion that “excellent ESG (environmental, social, and governance) performance significantly enhances green innovation outcomes” has been validated in numerous other studies. However, existing studies predominantly focus on endogenous corporate characteristics, while neglecting the differential impacts of external environmental pressures. In view of this, based on the traditional heterogeneity analysis framework, this paper introduces media tendency and media attention as external moderating variables, and selects R&D investment and financing costs as two mediating paths, tests the impact mechanism of corporate ESG performance on green innovation performance through a multiple regression analysis model using the data of China A-share listed companies from 2009 to 2023, as well as fully explores the heterogeneous impact mechanism of external governance factors on corporate green innovation. The study also reveals that
strong corporate ESG performance significantly promotes green innovation performance, a conclusion that remains robust after a series of robustness tests. Further analysis of the mechanism indicates that ESG performance drives green innovation by reducing corporate costs of debt financing rather than by increasing R&D investment; Media tendency and media attention play significant moderating roles in the relationship between ESG and green innovation, and these moderating effects exhibit time-lag characteristics and industry heterogeneity. This study expands the research perspective on the relationship between ESG and green innovation, reveals the important role of media as an external governance mechanism in promoting corporate green transformation, and puts forward some countermeasures and suggestions, such as strengthening the quality of ESG information disclosure, guiding the rational media coverage, implementing differentiated policies, and optimizing the financing environment, providing more solid theoretical support and empirical basis for the green transformation of enterprises and the relevant departments to take precise measures.
Against the dual background of the advancement of the rural revitalization strategy and the reshaping of labor forms by digital technologies, digital nomads are becoming an important participant in rural development. However, there is currently a lack of systematic exploration into the underlying behavioral logic of digital nomads entering rural areas and their integration mechanisms with rural society, and the research context pays insufficient attention to the vast majority of ordinary rural regions without established specialized bases. To this end, based on the theory of social embeddedness, this paper adopts structural and cultural embedding as core analytical dimensions, while incorporating political embedding perspectives to construct a theoretical framework of “core types+key perspectives”, and further expands the research scope by including non-digital nomad villages in the analysis, to reveal the logic of their rural participation and the mechanism of identity transformation through content analysis of 69 videos on the rural practices of digital nomads on Douyin and Bilibili platforms. The study finds that the motivation for digital migrants to move to rural areas presents the composite characteristics of “common drive + individual difference+institutional embeddedness”, with natural ecological attraction, the pursuit of a free life and economic-geographic arbitrage as the core common drives, individual interests and social networks as differentiated motivations, and policies such as rural digital infrastructure construction and entrepreneurial subsidies providing institutional support; their identity transformation is realized through the dual paths of “economic embeddedness-cultural embeddedness”, economic embeddedness is reflected in the activation of rural idle resources by digital skills, cultural embeddedness is manifested in the two-way adjustment of “individual adaptation-cultural feedback”, and the depth of cultural embeddedness of digital nomads in non-base rural areas is significantly higher than that in base rural areas. Certainly, digital migrants are faced with practical challenges such as inadequate infrastructure, social estrangement, and resource conflicts in their practices, and interdisciplinary research needs to be carried out on the optimization of infrastructure for digital migrants and the interaction between migrants and indigenous rural residents in the future.
Farmers are the main force in the comprehensive revitalization of rural areas, the welfare of farmers is related to the strength of agriculture, the beauty of rural areas, and the prosperity of farmers, and is the key support for realizing the modernization of agriculture and rural areas and Chinese modernization. While the development of digital countryside construction is profoundly transforming farmers' production and lifestyle, it serves as a key driver for their welfare growth. Unlike existing studies that primarily examine the impact of digital countryside construction on farmers' welfare through a simple linear relationship perspective, starting from the nonlinear characteristics of digital countryside construction, based on the theoretical framework of "digital village construction-urban and rural income gap-farmer welfare", this paper empirically examines the impact and mechanism of digital countryside construction on farmer welfare, as well as the changing trends of welfare effects using data from the China Family Panel Survey (CFPS) 2020 and 2022, which covers urban and rural areas in 25 regions of China. In which the digital countryside construction is measured from four aspects: digitalization of rural infrastructure, rural industry, and rural service, and application environment of digital countryside, while the farmer welfare is evaluated from five aspects: economic condition, job opportunity, social participation, living condition, and psychological state. The research finds that digital countryside construction does affect farmers’ welfare, showing an inverted U-shaped nonlinear impact, it significantly influences economic conditions, job opportunities, and social participation, but its effect on living conditions and psychological well-being is not obvious; In addition, the urban-rural income gap plays a mediating role in the welfare effects of digital countryside construction. Accordingly, to accelerate the development of digital countryside and advance rural revitalization, the paper puts forward countermeasures and suggestions: first, to build a comprehensive support system to strengthen the driving effect of digital countryside construction; second, to focus on the mediating mechanism of urban-rural income differences to consolidate the economic foundation for common prosperity; and third, to further improve the current development situation of “emphasizing production over life” and “prioritizing technical rationality over value care.”
E-commerce plays a pivotal role in advancing the digital transformation of agriculture and rural areas. however, how e-commerce concretely influences and accelerates the digitalization process in county-level rural areas still requires further in-depth analysis, in particular, as a networked and platform-based economic form, its influence often overlooks the spatial attributes that transcend administrative boundaries. To this end, this paper empirically tests the promoting effect of the comprehensive demonstration policy for e-commerce in rural areas on the construction of digital villages in counties, based on panel data from 28 provinces and 1785 counties in China from 2018 to 2020, and the Moran index and spatial econometric model are used to verify whether the policy has significant spatial spillover effect, to clarify the specific mechanisms and pathways of policy implementation, thereby providing solid empirical evidence for the precise formulation and optimization of subsequent policies. The results indicate that the digital rural index of selected demonstration counties increased by an average of 2.7, the growth is primarily driven through three key dimensions: developing information infrastructure, advancing agricultural mechanization, and enhancing rural financial services, and the effect of the policy is more significant in the eastern and central regions. Moreover, the policy implementation demonstrates significant spatial spillover effects, meaning that an improvement in a county's digital rural index can effectively extend to surrounding areas. The findings demonstrate that the government's key measures to advance rural digitalization include: strengthening policy support for e-commerce in county-level regions, guiding rural human capital development through policy measures, and simultaneously promoting social development elements such as financial services and healthcare security.