BEIJING 2015 SEPTEMBER SEMINAR. Co-organized by DFG Research Training Group 1613 Risk and East Asia, University of Duisburg-Essen

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1 School of Sociology & Population Sciences BEIJING 2015 SEPTEMBER SEMINAR Co-organized by DFG Research Training Group 1613 Risk and East Asia, University of Duisburg-Essen & School of Sociology and Population Studies, Renmin University of China, Beijing Prof. Flemming Christiansen University of Duisburg-Essen Dr. Rumin Luo, University of Duisburg-Essen Dr. Ting Huang, University of Duisburg-Essen Organizers: Coordinators: September 14 18, 2015 Renmin University, Beijing Prof. Yu Xianyang Renmin University of China Ms. Ma Jun, Renmin University of China Ms. Liu Xin, Renmin University of China Invited Commentators (in alphabetical order): Professor Dai Jianzhong, Institute of Sociology, Beijing Academy of Social Sciences Professor Flemming Christiansen, Institute of East Asian Studies, University of Duisburg-Essen Associate Professor Guo Hai, School of Business, Renmin University of China Professor Li Lulu, School of Sociology and Population Studies, Renmin University of China Professor Li Yingsheng, School of Sociology and Population Studies, Renmin University of China Professor Ka Ho Mok, Vice President & Chair Professor of Comparative Policy, Lingnan University, HK Professor Qiu Yulin, School of Labor and Human Resources, Renmin University of China Associate Researcher Song Wei, Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, Ministry of Commerce, PRC, Beijing Professor Markus Taube, Institute of East Asian Studies, University of Duisburg-Essen Professor Wang Sangui, School of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development, Renmin University of China Associate Professor Xu Ling, School of Economics & Management, Beijing Institute of Petrochemical Technology Professor Yu Xianyang, School of Sociology and Population Studies, Renmin University of China Professor Zhu Xufeng, School of Public Policy & Management, Tsinghua University, Beijing

2 CONFERENCE PROGRAM MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 14 Renmin University, Keyan Building, Conference Room A212 (2nd floor) 8:30 9:00 Opening speech Prof. Yu Xianyang and Prof. Flemming Christiansen 9:00 10:00 Opening lecture (in English) Prof. Ka Ho Mok, Lingnan University, Hong Kong Higher Education, Changing Labour Market and Social Mobility in the Era of Massification in China 10:00 10:30 Tea break 10:30 12:10 Panel 1 10:30 Julia Aristova, PhD student, University of Duisburg-Essen Emergence of Low-Carbon Strategies at Sub-National Level in China 10:50 Commentator: Associate Professor Xu Ling, Beijing Institute of Petrochemical Technology 11:10 Discussion 11:20 Wu Liufen, PhD student, Renmin University of China The Local Implementation of the Project System Rural Environmental Governance Pattern: A Sociological Analysis of "Village Cleaning Activity" in Guangxi 11:40 Commentator: Prof. Flemming Christiansen, University of Duisburg-Essen 12:00 Discussion 12:10 13:30 Lunch at Huixian Restaurant, Renmin University (central dining hall, 3rd floor)

3 13:30 15:10 Panel 2 13:30 Ma Jun, PhD student, Renmin University of China Study on the Evolution Mechanism of Department Stores in China Based on Social Embedded Perspective Taking Dalian Department Stores as Examples 13:50 Commentator: Prof. Flemming Christiansen, University of Duisburg-Essen 14:10 Discussion 14:20 Zhu Bin, PhD student, Renmin University of China The Game of Equality: the Class Reproduction and Social Reproduction in the Chinese University 14:40 Commentator: Prof. Ka Ho Mok, Lingnan University 15:00 Discussion 15:10 15:40 Tea break 15:40 18:10 Panel 3 15:40 Huijie Chu, PhD student, University of Duisburg-Essen Crossing the Ridge of Gaokao: Chinese Individuals Facing Higher Education Reforms 16:00 Commentator: Prof. Zhu Xufeng, Tsinghua University 16:20 Discussion 16:30 Weijing Le, PhD student, University of Duisburg-Essen Nurturing Creative Intelligence by Political Innovations An Inquiry into the Policy-making of China s Higher Education Admission Reform 16:50 Commentator: Prof. Li Yingsheng, Renmin University of China 17:10 Discussion 17:20 Genghua Huang, PhD student, Hong Kong Institute of Education Industrial Restructuring, Education Policy Adjustments and Social Mobility in Taiwan: University Students Perspective 17:40 Commentator: Prof. Yu Xianyang, Renmin University of China 18:00 Discussion 18:20 Welcome dinner, Huixian Restaurant, Renmin University (central dining hall, 3rd floor)

4 TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 15 Renmin University, Keyan Building, Conference Room A212 (2nd floor) 9:00 11:50 Panel 4 9:00 Aleksandra Davydova, PhD student, University of Duisburg-Essen The Effects of Chinese Outward Cross-Border Mergers and Acquisitions on Innovation (in English) 9:20 Commentator: Associate Professor Guo Hai, Renmin University of China 9:40 Discussion 9:50 Yang Liu, PhD student, University of Duisburg-Essen Entrepreneurship and Poverty Alleviation in China 10:10 Commentator: Prof. Wang Sangui, Renmin University of China 10:30 Discussion 10:40 Tea break 11:00 Shao Zhanpeng, PhD student, Renmin University of China The Triad of Production of Social Space: Taking the Production of Space of Electronic Commerce in BaiNiu Village as a Case 11:20 Commentator: Prof. Markus Taube, University of Duisburg-Essen 11:40 Discussion 11:50 13:30 Lunch at Huixian Restaurant, Renmin University (central dining hall, 3rd floor) 13:30 15:10 Panel 5 13:30 Wenjing Jin, PhD student, University of Leeds Social Interaction and Interrelationships among Actors in Home Care: A Multiple Theoretical Perspective 13:50 Commentator: Prof. Qiu Yulin, Renmin University of China 14:10 Discussion 14:20 Xu Xiangwen, PhD student, Renmin University of China Reflections on Improving the New Rural Co-operative Medical System 14:40 Commentator: Prof. Ka Ho Mok, Lingnan University 15:00 Discussion 15:10 15:40 Tea break

5 15:40 18:10 Panel 6 15:40 Yao Lu, PhD student, University of Duisburg-Essen Political Connections and Investment Efficiency in China s Private - Enterprise Sector 16:00 Commentator: Prof. Li Lulu, Renmin University of China 16:20 Discussion 16:30 Ying Licheng, PhD student, Renmin University of China Relationship Strategies and Tension of Enterprise Financing in Banks 16:50 Commentator: Prof. Markus Taube, University of Duisburg-Essen 17:10 Discussion 17:20 Obert Hodzi, PhD student, Lingnan University Business Interest Groups and China s Foreign Security Policy in Africa: Testing the Limits of the Non-Interference Principle? (in English) 17:40 Commentator: Associate Researcher Song Wei, Ministry of Commerce 18:00 Discussion 18:30 Duisburg dinner, Quanjude Roast Duck Restaurant (Hengrun International Mansion 1st floor, 32 West St, North 3rd Ring Road, Haidian District)

6 WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16 China Center for Contemporary World Studies, and Sharing the Harvest Farm in Shunyi District 9:00 11:30 Visit to the China Center for Contemporary World Studies (4 Fuxing St, Haidian District) 11:45 13:30 Lunch with researchers from the China Center for Contemporary World Studies 13:30 17:30 Visit to the Sharing the Harvest Farm in Liuzhuanghu Village, Longwantun Town, Shunyi District 18:30 Dinner in the farm THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 17 Ministry of Education, and Shimenying Community, Mentougou District 9:30 12:00 Meeting with officials from Ministry of Education 12:00 14:00 Lunch 14:00 18:00 Visit to Shimenying Community, Mentougou District. Meeting with local cadres about public-private partnerships for elderly care 18:30 Dinner in Mentougou FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 18 Shimenying Community, Mentougou District 8:30 Visit to Shimenying Community, Mentougou District. Sightseeing tour of Miaofeng Mountain 18:30 Return to Beijing SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 19 Beijing 8:30 End of the September Seminar and Departure

7 BEIJING 2015 SEPTEMBER SEMINAR Co-organized by DFG Research Training Group 1613 Risk and East Asia, University of Duisburg-Essen & School of Sociology and Population Studies, Renmin University of China, Beijing September 14 18, 2015 Renmin University, Beijing PRESENTATIONS AND PRESENTERS Opening lecture Prof. Ka Ho Mok, Vice President & Chair Professor of Comparative Policy, Lingnan University Higher Education, Changing Labour Market and Social Mobility in the Era of Massification in China Abstract: This paper attempts to investigate the relationship between the massification of higher education, labour market and social mobility in contemporary China. Though only a short period of time has elapsed from elite to mass education, China s higher education has been characterized as a wide, pervasive massification process. Similar to other East Asian countries / economies like South Korea, Taiwan, and Hong Kong, the expansion of higher education in China has also generated a great impact on labour markets and social mobility. The massification of higher education has increased college access and in general enhanced the extent of equity and equality in society. Nonetheless, the situation has become far more complex as returns of education have flattened out recently and social mobility has slowed down in general. University students have started to doubt the ability of higher education to improve their competitiveness in the job market. This, in turn, has led to a wide dissatisfaction with higher education development in China, particularly when higher education has experienced highly intensified competition in the context of world-class university movement. Realizing that students from different family backgrounds may encounter diverse experiences in graduate employment and opportunity for upward social mobility, this article critically reflects upon how variations in social capital and cultural capital have impacted on graduate employment and social mobility as higher education has massively expanded in China.

8 Julia Aristova Emergence of Low-Carbon Strategies at Sub-National Level in China Abstract: Climate change remains one of the most pressing issues facing humanity. Reducing carbon emissions is a prior measure to mitigate climate change and cities, as main emitters, are primary actors in the process of low-carbon transition. Low-carbon transition is a shift towards reduction of carbon emissions and lower energy consumption. For example, it might lead to a transformation of energy intensive industries, promotion of electric vehicles or altering home heating systems. Against the background of ever growing carbon emissions in China, low-carbon policies obtain national priority. A number of low-carbon pilot projects are currently established in some Chinese cities, drawing attention to urban innovations. Research on the emerging strategies can provide support to cities struggling for low-carbon future and additionally give an overview of potential markets for low-carbon technologies. The project analyses the decision-making process in order to understand how Chinese city governments proceed with low-carbon development, how they engage in the trans-local cooperation and why some Chinese cities choose to join global city networks to promote low-carbon development, while others do not. Keywords: low-carbon development, city government, trans-local cooperation Biography: Julia Aristova began her professional education at Amur State University of Humanities and Pedagogy (Russia), from where she received Specialist Diploma with honours in Foreign Languages. Further Julia shifted her academic interests from linguistics to social sciences and proceeded with study of Sinicization of Marxism at Jiamusi University in China. Her master thesis Foreign affairs of present-day China: Harmonious World reflected Chinese epistemic community s vision of the main issues currently facing China in the international arena. Julia completed then one-year master s program in Modern East- Asian Studies at the University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany. Her dissertation Global Governance: One World, Different Dreams analysed concepts of global governance in the Chinese, English and Russian academic literature. Before joining IN-EAST School of Advanced Studies as a doctoral researcher in March 2014, Julia finished 3-months research-oriented internship at the United Nations University in Bonn. julia.aristova@uni-due.de Wu Liufen The Local Implementation of the Project System Rural Environmental Governance Pattern: A Sociological Analysis of "Village Cleaning Activity" in Guangxi Abstract: Since China's reform and opening up, the rural society bore the endogenous and exogenous superimposed environmental pressure from its own development and the transfer of pollution across urban region and borders. In the situation of the rural environmental degradation, China's central government put forward a Promote Governance In Award rural environmental governance policy. Currently, the policy through the Project System to implement in nationwide scope. Our fieldwork at Xing County in Guangxi reveals that the implementation of the policy takes different forms, administrative order, market cooperative, self-governance and so on. These practice patterns implied by the complex logic and mechanisms of social transformation and institutional change. In the background of social transformation, there is a certain "system delay" in national environmental governance system, market forces because of the economic benefits of pollution control being highlighted, community and society environmental protection forces has gradually emerged. These separate governance models should be effective integration, and form a compound rural environment governance mechanism.

9 Keywords: project system, social transformation, institutional change, rural environmental governance Biography: Wu Liufen is PhD candidate, Renmin University of China. Major Research Direction: Environmental Sociology. Ma Jun Study on the Evolution Mechanism of Department Stores in China Based on Social Embedded Perspective Taking Dalian Department Stores as Examples Abstract: With the growing competition between retail formats and the rapid rise of the network-malls, traditional department stores recession is even more obvious. In this context, many department stores in China have attempted to transition to the shopping mall. Taking Dalian department stores as examples, this paper based on social embedded perspective attempts to investigate the transformation of domestic department stores and explore their inherent logics in this evolution in order to provide reference for future development. Keywords: department stores, social embededness, transformation Biography: Ma Jun is a PhD candidate of Sociology at Renmin University of China, Beijing, focusing her research on sociology of organizations @qq.com Zhu Bin The Game of Equality: the Class Reproduction and Social Reproduction in the Chinese University Abstract: In the past, most of studies about education and social stratification claim that the main function of schools is the reproduction of the dominant class. The research nevertheless shows that the role of school is more complex. As many researchers indicated that the state is not just a tool for the dominant class but has certain autonomy, there are two kinds of reproduction in the university social reproduction and class reproduction, which are lead by state and family respectively. In socialist China, the state has to cultivate socialist successor in the school for social reproduction. However, many children of social dominant class are not willing to become the socialist successor, because their parents alienate the state ideology after the market economy reform. In the circumstances, the competition of students from different classes in the university is not totally controlled by the social class structure. Although those students from dominated class have less social resources they can strive to become socialist successor so that they will achieve state-sponsored protect and then accomplish upward mobility. To summarize, the socialist state is in the need of social reproduction, and it would like to establish a patron-client relationship with dominated class in the university, which will restrain class reproduction. Keywords: class reproduction, social reproduction, state-sponsored Biography: Zhu Bin is a PhD candidate of sociology at Renmin University of China in Beijing. He received undergraduate and master s degrees from the University, both in sociology. Now he takes a keen interest in social stratification and mobility, and has published some articles in Social Sciences in China, Sociological Studies and Chinese Journal of Sociology. zhubin2015@ruc.edu.cn

10 Huijie Chu Crossing the Ridge of Gaokao: Chinese Individuals Facing Higher Education Reforms Abstract: This dissertation explores the nature of Chinese individualization in relation to social institutions through investigating the rationales of the individual to enter higher educational institutions (HEIs). The reforms of China s higher education system serve as the empirical case to demonstrate institutional impacts on Chinese individuals, and entering HEIs presents the individual choices and efforts in the face of institutional reforms. It thereby views social transformation through the lens of college entrance examination (gaokao) so as to provide a deeper understanding of the interplay between individuals and social structures in contemporary China. The individualization thesis provides an interpretive scheme to analyze how contemporary individuals are constrained by and depend on social institutions. Ethnographic fieldwork will be the major source of empirical data, including semi-structured interviews with high school students, college students and graduates, together with some of their parents, and also participant observation in cram schools and recruitment meetings by HEIs. It argues that as Chinese individuals are allowed more options and freedom to choose, they are still largely constrained by social institutions in terms of what they choose. The rise of the individual as well as the similarity of their choices lead to further dynamics of institutional reforms. In this way, it applies the individualization thesis to the Chinese context beyond the European model, thus contributing to a more comprehensive view about, both empirically and theoretically, the contradictions and tensions brought about by this social transformation. (Notes: 1. Gaokao: college entrance examination in China; 2. China and Chinese people here refer to Mainland China and Mainland Chinese people.) Keywords: China, higher education reforms, individualization Biography: Huijie Chu joined the DFG Research Training Group 1613 Risk and East Asia as a doctoral student in October She gained her Bachelor s degree in English Language and Literature at Tongji University in Shanghai, China. In September 2014, she obtained her Master s degree in International Relations at Waseda University in Tokyo, Japan. Her MA thesis examines the characteristics of Chinese newcomers and the transition from oldcomers to newcomers within the Chinese community in Japan. Her working PhD dissertation investigates the rationales of the individual to enter higher educational institutions in order to explore the nature of Chinese individualization in relation to social institutions. huijie.chu@stud.uni-due.de Genghua Huang Industrial Restructuring, Education Policy Adjustments and Social Mobility in Taiwan: University Students Perspective Abstract: The social stratum structure is embedded in the specific political and economic framework. From the 1960s to 1980s, light industry developed rapidly in Taiwan, which is one momentum for promoting active social mobility among different social stratifications. However, in nearly two decades, suffering the double blow of globalization and global economic downturn, the industrial structure in Taiwan are changing sharply, which leads to slower economic growth. In this context, there is insufficient internal impetus driving social mobility. In addition, education is another important mechanism for social mobility. Under the economic development-led national strategy, higher education in Taiwan is in a subordinate position, and it trains a lot of skilled labour to meet the demands of export-led economic model. The survey on university students in Taipei shows: they generally think that

11 the inequality among different social classes is severe; they also generally think that compared with the period of 1960s to 1980s, now the channels for upward mobility in the society are narrowed down, and family background and resources are playing a great role in individuals development. Keywords: social stratification, social mobility, industrial restructuring, education policy Biography: Genghua Huang is currently PhD student in the Department of Asian and Policy Studies at the Hong Kong Institute of Education. His articles have appeared in journals such as Journal of Contemporary China, Journal of Current Chinese Affairs, and Social Policy and Society. s @s.ied.edu.hk Weijing Le Nurturing Creative Intelligence by Political Innovations An Inquiry into the Policymaking of China s Higher Education Admission Reform Abstract: The dissertation aims to illustrate how the Chinese government employ innovative policies to promote the creative intelligence of the human capital and to reach the ultimate goals of indigenous innovations. Taking the policy process of higher education admission reform as the unit of observation, this dissertation project tries to make an inquiry into the strategic participation of policy experts involved in the policy-making processes of the higher education admission reform. Applying the qualitative method of process-tracing, the author will use empirical data from interviews with Chinese experts and university admissions offices to illustrate the variables that influencing the decision-making in different stages of the policy process and to draw the causal inferences of the policy change. The higher education admission mechanism sheds light on the unbalanced power distribution on both horizontal and vertical line of the education administration system, which fundamentally undermines the admission policy formation in various ways. The involvement of the education experts is an interesting external factor to be investigated which is taking increasingly account in decision-making processes in China. Keywords: policy process, higher education admission reform, political innovation, policy experts, process-tracing Biography: Weijing Le holds a Bachelor degree of Cultural and Economic Studies (Kulturwirt) and a Master degree of Contemporary East Asian Studies from the University of Duisburg-Essen. Before she joined the IN-EAST School of Advanced Studies in March 2014, she worked as a research fellow at the Chair of Modern East Asian Studies at the University of Duisburg-Essen. Her research interests include major themes of political and social development in Greater China region. In her master thesis, she examines the rural policy program of exchange construction land for pension in Songyang County in Zhejiang Province in China. Her current PhD project draws attention on the political innovations in China s higher education admission reform and focuses specifically on the process of policymaking. weijing.le@uni-due.de Aleksandra Davydova The Effects of Chinese Outward Cross-Border Mergers and Acquisitions on Innovation Abstract: One of China s key current objectives is to develop an innovation based economy. Both macro- and microeconomic processes are significant for this transformation. On the microeconomic level companies practices contribute to strengthening China s innovation

12 power. The research focuses on how Chinese companies enhance their internal innovation, because that might lead to a better understanding of how China might push its further economic growth through indigenous innovation. While a firm s innovation base can grow internally through a series of innovation-enhancing investments, firms can also develop their innovation externally. The research specifically considers outward cross-border mergers and acquisitions (M&A), where companies from China acquire an existing innovation base from a different company abroad. From a theory perspective the relationship between M&A and innovation is rather ambivalent and the existing empirical investigations do not present consistent and definite findings. The research approaches this contradicting issue using the network analysis on the dyad level. A model with network, innovation and M&A variables will be created and tested empirically by means of selected case studies. The research is designed in this way in order to answer the question of how outward cross-border M&A affect Chinese acquirers innovation. Keywords: outward cross-border M&A, innovation, network analysis Biography: Aleksandra Davydova joined the IN-EAST School of Advanced Studies as a PhD candidate in June She is a member of the Research Group Innovation and the Chinese Economy: Institutions, Networks, and National Systems of Policies within the IN-EAST School of Advanced Studies. Before that she worked as an assistant to the Chair of Japanese Politics / Modern East Asian Studies at the Institute of East Asian Studies (IN-EAST) of the University of Duisburg-Essen in She obtained her Master Degree in Contemporary East Asian Studies with the focus on the Chinese Economy from IN-EAST in Aleksandra Davydova was awarded the prize for the best final thesis at IN-EAST in 2014 and received the UDE Scholarship in the framework of Deutschlandstipendium granted by the Duisburger Universitäts-Gesellschaft e.v. from 2010 to Before that she completed her first university degree as a Specialist in International Relations in Nizhnij Novgorod Dobroljubov State Linguistic University in Russia in Her research interests are Chinese economy, M&A, companies innovation and countries innovation systems. aleksandra.davydova@uni-due.de Yang Liu Entrepreneurship and Poverty Alleviation in China Abstract: This project tries to answer the question how to alleviation poverty through entrepreneurship in China. For a long time, entrepreneurship has been regarded as an important business way to help the poor to escape from poverty. Social entrepreneurship, base of pyramid strategy and microfinance become main strategies to practice this method. But the results turned out to be vague and even worse. Most economic research analyzes the relationship from testing its effects using different level data. Little research investigates how entrepreneurship helps to alleviate poverty. This project tries to study deeply into the process of this relationship taking rural poor areas in China as the focus. The main analysis emphasis will be the black box between entrepreneurship and poverty alleviation. Based on evolutionary economic theory, I will use case study to explore the main key factors that affect the effects of entrepreneurship on poverty in poor rural area. With these factors found out, the question how to change entrepreneurial poverty alleviation strategy according to different poverty stages will be answered. Then I will give the value chain design for poor area from the point of view whether farm entrepreneurship or non-farm entrepreneurship is better. Keywords: entrepreneurship, poverty alleviation, evolution

13 Biography: Yang Liu joined the IN-EAST School of Advanced Study at the University of Duisburg-Essen as a PhD candidate in May She finished her economics bachelor and master education in Jilin University and spent half a year visiting the University of Eastern Finland between 2013 and 2014 with support of Erasmus Scholarship. She has published articles and papers on Chinese leading newspaper Guangming Daily (theoretical edition) and academic journals. From the year of 2011 to 2013, she joined as main writer and took charge of annual Central Enterprise Independent (/Technology) Innovation Report as vice editor-in-chief. Her research interests are entrepreneurship and innovation economy, Chinese state owned companies innovation, poverty and Chinese policy evolution. yang.liu@uni-due.de Shao Zhanpeng The Triad of Production of Social Space: Taking the Production of Space of Electronic Commerce in Bainiu Village as a Case Abstract: This study aims at exploring whether space exists as form or as content in the production of social space, and the relationship between space form and space content, and what we can achieve to rethink production of space theories through the relationship. Taking the theoretical tension between Castells and Lefebrve as analytical basis points, this research focuses attention on the relationship between space form and space content in production of space theories. The study found that Castells emphasized and treated the space as from and discussed the influence of social structure factors on space form. On the contrary, Lefebrve emphasized and treated the space as content, and gave space activity, and excavated the nature and productbility behind space content. Space from and space content are the core problems of production of space theories, but about which there is little attention and in lack of further discussion in academia. This study takes the production of space of electronic commerce in Bainiu village as a case, expecting to find the mechanism and relationship s structure of space form and space content in the specific process of production of social space, then to develop a further theoretical exploration. Keywords: production of space; space form; space content; electronic commerce Biography: Shao Zhanpeng is a doctoral candidate of sociology at the Center for Studies of Sociological Theory & Method of Renmin University. Tel: shaozhanpeng1205@163.com Wenjing Jin Social Interaction and Interrelationships among Actors in Home Care: A Multiple Theoretical Perspective Abstract: As the function of family care faded, home care and residential care become more and more important. Considering the high cost of residential care, home care has been regarded as the main form of long term care in the future. While, home care is still at an early stage in contemporary China, which faces up with various problems. By utilizing an integrated theoretical perspective, this paper wants to probe social interaction and interrelationships among different actors in home care, and further to identify the dominated force toward providing sufficient and high-quality home care service for the old people. The complementary nature among social exchange theory, symbolic interactionism and conflict theory is of primary interest in this paper. Keywords: Home care, actor, resource, meaning, conflict

14 Biography: Wenjing Jin is a PhD researcher at East Asian Studies/White Rose East Asia Centre, University of Leeds, UK. Her research is on long term care for the old people and recently she will do fieldwork in Shanghai. mlwj@leeds.ac.uk Xu Xiangwen Reflections on Improving the New Rural Co-operative Medical System Abstract: It had been more than ten years since the New Rural Co-operative Medical System established in China at the beginning of this century. With the government's efforts, the New Rural Co-operative Medical System has covered all the rural residents, and the number of people who purchase it and benefit from it is rapidly increasing. However, as some current difficulties in rural areas, like poverty and massive rural-urban migrant workers, have been ignored, the actual performance of the New Rural Co-operative Medical System is slim. In order to effectively protect the health rights of all the rural residents, we still need to improve the New Rural Co-operative Medical System from multiple aspects. Keywords: New Rural Co-operative Medical System, poor families in rural areas, ruralurban migrant workers, health care Biography: Xu Xiangwen is a PhD student of Sociology at the School of Sociology and Population Studies, Renmin University of China. His major research fields are social policy and social work @qq.com Yao Lu Political Connections and Investment Efficiency in China s Private Enterprise Sector Abstract: The maturation of China s capital market and emergency of private enterprise sector leads to institutional change in information environment of China s listed firms, which leads to the instability of political connections. This research project is divided into three aspects (Financial information, firms, investment behaviors and internal control) to consider the reactions from firms to institutional change in China s market and how this firm to deal with their connections with government.the first aspect is based on the change of information disclosure policy, Secondly, politically-connected firms gain benefits from government make them over-confidence in the capital markets, which may make them to make unreasonable investment decisions. Thirdly, the increasingly complexity of contracts forces relationship-based contracting gives way to formal institutions. The establishment of Internal Control Guidance acts like a formal institution to reduce information asymmetry caused by moral hazard and adverse selection, in order to help firms improve risk management and investment efficiency. Regarding political connections as an informal institution. Research questions: 1. Compared to non-connected firms, the quality of financial information in politically-connected firms improved after information disclosure policy? 2. Do political connections lead to firm-level moral hazard behaviors? 3: Do political connections (an informal institution) affect the performance effects of internal control? Keywords: political connections, financial information, investment efficiency, internal control. Biography: Yao Lu joined the DFG Research Training Group as a doctoral fellow in October, She received her B.A. in accounting in 2011 from the Nanjing University of Finance & Economics, and earned her M.A. in accounting in 2014 from the Southwest University in China. She went to the University of California, Riverside for one semester in fall of 2013 as a visiting student. And her MA thesis was the internal control self-assessment report disclosure level and corporate performance-based on an empirical study of manufacturing

15 firms in Shenzhen stock exchange in Her Publication in Chinese: Jue Peng, Yao Lu 2014: Whether the disclosure of self-assessment report on internal control has positive effects on the larger shareholder tunneling? In: Journal of Southwest University (Social Sciences Edition), 3: Her Conference presentation and talk: Political Connections and Investment Efficiency in China s Private Enterprise Sector. 3rd Duisburg-Frankfurt Workshop, Institutions in the Development of East Asia. Frankfurt, Germany. March 13, yao.lu.1989@stud.uni-due.de Ying Licheng Relationship Strategies and Tension of Enterprise Financing in Banks Abstract: The relationship between corporate managers and bank employees has a significant impact on enterprise financing in banks. But we should distinguish between two types of relationships. Stock relationships are personal relations which have existed before exchange interaction. Business relationships means those relations establishing and developing on the process of exchange interaction. For the enterprise managers and bank customer manager, they have different demands for different relationships. In the process of enterprise development, enterprise management s demands go from business relationships to stock relationships. While bank customer managers demands for relations with enterprise management go from stock relationships to business relationships. The tension of relationship needing for corporate managers and bank employees diminish the possibility of "win-win" between them. All of them hope to using relationships according to their own demands. Because of this, corporate managers need more cost to get their goals. This enhance the dilemma for enterprise financing. Keywords: enterprise financing; business relationship; stock relationship; relationship tension Biography: Ying Licheng is a PhD Student of Sociology at the School of Sociology and Population Studies, Renmin University of China. His research is economic sociology. yinglc462@qq.com Obert Hodzi Business Interest Groups and China s Foreign Security Policy in Africa: Testing the Limits of the Non-Interference Principle? Abstract: From the time Beijing began to encourage Chinese enterprises to go global, the number of private multinational corporations and state-owned enterprises operating abroad has increased exponentially. Due to their late entrance into the global market, these corporations have had to conduct business in high security risk countries rich in natural resources but prone to armed conflicts. The result is that Chinese enterprises have lost both some of their investments and workers to armed conflicts, abrupt changes of government and/or other political and security risks, prompting domestic demands for Beijing to protect its economic interests, companies and citizens at risk in foreign countries, mostly in Africa. Since the Libyan conflict in 2011, it appears Beijing has increasingly taken a keen interest in peace and security in Africa, testing the limits of its foreign policy of noninterference in the internal affairs of other countries. Basing on the above context, this article explores the impact of business interest groups on China s foreign security policy transformations. It assesses whether Beijing s evolving foreign security policy in Africa and its recent responses to the intrastate armed conflicts in Mali and South Sudan is attributable to its foreign state-owned and private enterprises operating in those countries.

16 Keywords: armed conflict, China, foreign policy, security, non-interference Biography: Obert Hodzi is a PhD candidate in the Political Science Department at Lingnan University in Hong Kong. He previously worked as a Governance Advisor at HIVOS Southern Africa, Harare, Zimbabwe, and is a registered attorney with the High Court of Zimbabwe. His research focuses on democracy and good governance in fragile states, and China-Africa security and economic relations. He holds a Master s degree in Democratic Governance and Civil Society from Osnabrueck University, Germany. From June to August, 2015, as part of his field research he will be a visiting researcher at the Institute for Peace and Security Studies in Addis Abeba, Ethiopia, a think tank that works with the African Union and is part of the China-Africa think tanks partnership. oberthodzi@ln.edu.hk BIOGRAPHIES OF COMMENTATORS AND ORGANIZERS Dai Jianzhong is a professor and researcher at the Beijing Academy of Social Sciences. He is the Deputy Director of the Institute of Sociology at the Beijing Academy of Social Sciences, Standing Member of the Chinese Sociological Association, and Deputy Secretary- General of the Beijing Sociological Association. His research focuses on research methods of sociology, social stratification and social mobility. He has been doing research on private enterprises and private entrepreneurs since the mid-1980s and undertaking several relevant projects funded by the National Social Science Foundation of China. He was engaged in the questionnaire design, data analyses and report writing during the nation-wide sampling and investigation of private enterprises and private entrepreneurs at the year of 1993, 1995, 1997, 2000 and daijianzhong49@163.com Flemming Christiansen (PhD Leiden 1990), Professor, Sociological Institute and Institute of East Asian Studies and Speaker of the Postgraduate Research Training Group "Risk and East Asia" at the University of Duisburg-Essen. Professor in Chinese Studies and Director of the National Institute of Chinese Studies and Deputy Director, White Rose East Asia Centre, University of Leeds Lecturer and Senior Lecturer in Chinese Studies, University of Leeds Lecturer in Chinese Politics, University of Manchester Member of the editorial boards of Journal of Current Chinese Affairs (Hamburg); China Information (Leiden); Journal of Agrarian Change (London); Asian Politics and Policy (Washington and Beijing); and the book series Chinese Worlds (Routledge, London). Main publications include: Chinese Politics and Society. An Introduction. London, 1996 (with Rai); Chinatown, Europe. An Exploration of Overseas Chinese Identity in the 1990s. London, 2003; The Politics of Multiple Belonging. Ethnicity and Nationalism in Europe and East Asia. Aldershot, 2004 (with Hedetoft); Encyclopedia of Modern China, 4 volumes. Farmington, 2009 (with Pong et al.); and Village Inc.: Chinese Rural Society in the 1990s. Richmond, 1998 (with Zhang). flemming.christiansen@uni-due.de Guo Hai is an associate professor of entrepreneurship at the School of Business, Renmin University of China. His research interests include strategic entrepreneurship, institutional entrepreneurship, and business model innovation. He has previously published his research in journals such as the Journal of Product Innovation Management, Journal of Business Research, Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Management and Organization Review, and Journal of Organizational Change Management. guohai@rbs.org.cn Li Lulu is a professor at the School of Sociology and Population Studies, Renmin University of China. He is Vice Chairman of Chinese Association of Sociology, Deputy Dean of School of Sociology and Population Studies, Renmin University, Dean, Professor and Doctorial Student Advisor of Department of Sociology, Renmin University. His main research fields in-

17 clude social stratification, modernization and organizational research. Main publications include: Study on Social Indicator Theory; Social Structure and Changes in Modernization Course in Today s China; China s Institutions-Powers, Resources and Exchanges, Private Enterprise Owners in Social Transition, etc. lilulu@ruc.edu.cn Li Yingsheng is a professor at the School of Sociology and Population Studies, Renmin University of China. He is a member of Expert Advisory Committee of Ministry of Civil Affairs of China and Deputy Director of the Association of Chinese Social Work. He is a member of the editorial boards of around ten journals, including Journal of Social Work, Sociology, Gansu Social Sciences, etc. Main publications include: Social Policy in Transition; An Introduction to Social Work; and For Peasants Livelihood Security. yingshengli@126.com Joshua Mok is Vice President and Chair Professor of Comparative Policy of Lingnan University, Hong Kong. He was Vice President, Chair Professor of Comparative Policy and Founding Dean of Faculty of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences of The Hong Kong Institute of Education from 2010 to July Before joining the HKIEd, he was Associate Dean and Professor of Social Policy, Faculty of Social Sciences, The University of Hong Kong (HKU). Being appointed as Founding Chair Professor in East Asian Studies, Professor Mok established the Centre for East Asian Studies at the University of Bristol, UK before taking the position at HKU. Professor Mok is no narrow disciplinary specialist but has worked creatively across the academic worlds of sociology, political science and public and social policy while building up his wide knowledge of China and the region. Professor Mok completed his undergraduate studies (Public and Social Administration) at City University of Hong Kong in 1989, having MPhil (Sociology) from Chinese University of Hong Kong in 1991, and got his PhD from London School of Economics and Political Science (Sociology) in Professor Mok has published extensively in the fields of comparative education policy, comparative development and policy studies, and social development in contemporary China and East Asia. In particular, he has contributed to the field of social change and education in a variety of additional ways, not the least of which has been his leadership and entrepreneurial approach to the organization of the field. His recent published works have focused on comparative social development and social policy responses in Greater China region and East Asia. kahomok@in.edu.hk Qiu Yulin is a professor of social security at the School of Labor and Human Resources, Renmin University of China. Her major research interests are in the areas of health insurance and public pension, as well as comparative study of international social security systems. She has been a visiting scholar at National Chung Cheng University (Taiwan), Manitoba University (Canada), University Montesquieu (France). She is a standing member of several organizations, including China Social Insurance Association, Health Insurance Association of China, China Association of Social Security, and Beijing Labor and Social Security Association. qiuyulin@ruc.edu.cn Song Wei is an associate researcher at the Institute of Development Assistance, Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, Ministry of Commerce, PRC. Her research is focused on China s foreign assistance toward Africa, and she gives training courses to African government officials. She has been to Kenya, Tanzania, Micronesia, Tonga and Samoa for fieldwork. She has been in charge of several research projects funded by the National Social Science Foundation of China, China Post-Doctoral Science Foundation, and Social Science Foundation of Central Compilation & Translation Bureau. Ms. Song has published 16 research articles and 4 books @qq.com, songwei@caitec.org.cn

18 Markus Taube (PhD University of Bochum 1996), Professor for the Economy of East Asia/ China and Director of the IN-EAST School of Advanced Studies at the University of Duisburg-Essen. Co-Director of the Confucius Institute Metropolis Ruhr. Founding Partner of THINK!DESK China Research & Consulting (Munich). One Thousand Plan Professor of Tianjin City in China ( ) and Outstanding Professor of Nankai University ( ). Member of the Advisory Board of the Mercator Institute for China Studies (MERICS) (Berlin). Guest Professor at University of Wuhan ( ). Main research interests: institutional economics, economic development and systemic transition, global economic integration of developing economies, theory of the multinational corporation. Wang Sangui is Professor at the Faculty of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development, Director of Anti-poverty Research Center and Deputy Director of the Advanced Institute for Sustainable Development at Renmin University of China. His research interests include rural poverty, development finance and impact evaluation of poverty reduction projects and programs in China and other developing countries. He has published articles on poverty and inequality, agricultural development, migration and poverty reduction in journals including the Journal of Public Economics, Journal of Comparative Economics, Agricultural Economics, China Economic Review. Xu Ling, Bachelor of Statistics, Master of Accountancy, Doctor of Economics, Postdoctoral of Law. Associate Professor at the School of Economics & Management, Beijing Institute of Petrochemical Technology. Recent research interests include: the green economy, lowcarbon economy, the network economy, environmental accounting, environmental statistics; environmental law, legal problems of low-carbon economy, legal issues on green trade barriers, energy law and environmental standards. Yu Xianyang, Professor of Sociology, the School of Sociology and Population Studies, Renmin University of China. Member of China Public Relations Association and of China Chain Store & Franchise Association. Visiting Scholar at Moscow State University, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, University of Tübingen, and University of Duisburg-Essen. His main research interests include organizational sociology, organizational behavior, enterprise development strategy, franchise model, etc. Zhu Xufeng is currently Professor at the School of Public Policy and Management, Tsinghua University. Zhu earned his bachelor s degree in environment engineering and doctor s degree in public management from Tsinghua University in 2000 and Before he moved back to Tsinghua University, he served as Professor at the Zhou Enlai School of Government, Nankai University. His research interests involve the Chinese policy process, think tanks and expert participation, Science & Technology policy, environment and climate policy, and public governance in transitional China. He is the author of The Rise of Think Tanks in China, Expert Participation in Policy Changes, and China's Think Tanks: Their Influences in the Policy Process, and has published over ten English articles in Public Administration, The China Quarterly, Policy Sciences, Public Management Review, Administration & Society, Asian Survey and other international journals and dozens of articles in Chinese journals such as Social Sciences in China, Sociological Studies, and Management World, which are highly prestigious academic journals in respective field in China. He was the winner of the American Society for Public Administration (APSA) Best Comparative Policy Paper Award for zhuxufeng@tsinghua.edu.cn

19 Rumin Luo was trained as an Economic Sociologist in Bielefeld University, Germany while she got the joint supervision from Boston University, USA from 2008 to After working as a research fellow at the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity, Göttingen, Germany from 2012 to 2014 she starts to work as a Research Associate at the Institute of East Asian Studies (IN-EAST) and Institute of Sociology, University of Duisburg-Essen since April She worked for projects and researches on poverty, gender, natural resource management, sustainable development etc., sponsored by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, Asian Development Bank (ADB), World Bank (WB), UK Department for International Development (DFID), Japan Bank For International Cooperation (JBIC) and so on from 2002 to Her writings have dealt primarily with migration, institutions, markets, culture and social welfare which appeared on InterDisciplines. Journal of History and Sociology, Urbanities Journal, Journal of Current Chinese Affairs, and Collections of Women Studies. Her book Becoming Urban: State and Migration in Contemporary China was published with Kassel University Press in rumin.luo@uni-due.de Ting Huang received her bachelor's degree in sociology from the China University of Political Science and Law in 2006, and earned a Juris Master degree from Renmin University of China in After a research stay of one and a half years at Otto-Suhr-Institute for Political Science, Free University of Berlin, she transferred to University of Duisburg-Essen and got a PhD in Sociology in July Her major research interests include social welfare, public policy, local governance, rural development, etc. Most recent publication: Building a New Rural Pension System in China: Local Policymaking and Social Process, doctoral dissertation, University of Duisburg-Essen, Selected conference papers: Extension of the Urban Pension Coverage in China and its Effects on the Rural Pension System, 12th East Asian Social Policy (EASP) Conference, Singapore, 2015; Local Government and Policy Experimentation: A Case Study of Developing Rural Old-Age Pensions in Baoji, Association for Asian Studies (AAS) Annual Conference, Philadelphia, ting.huang@stud.uni-due.de, ting.huang08@yahoo.com