The Localization, Practice and Innovation of Time Banking——On a New Approach to China's Aging Population

In the context of an aging population, the promotion of time banking as a new model of voluntary service can help alleviate the ever–increasing pressures for elderly care and services in China. The development of time banking in China has successively undergone the stage of traditional practice, the stage of infancy and exploration, as well as the stage of accelerated growth. Meanwhile, this process has also witnessed the formation of many localized innovations. To further the localization and innovation of time banking, this paper analyzes its basis in traditional culture, summarizes its process of practice and explores new directions of future innovation. Based on the summary of existing problems, this paper proposes to enhance the recognition of time banking among the public, facilitate localized innovation of time banking, promote its informatization, and involve the participation of young people, particularly college students.

A Brief Introduction of Sichuan Academy of Social Sciences

A Dialectic Analysis of the Concept of Ecological Civilization

Ecological civilization has already evolved into a complex conceptual system. The mainstream idea holds that ecological civilization is an element of civilization, or a whole new social form, while other ideas view it as a philosophy of green development, a measure of green orientation, an outcome of the overall development of civilization. This paper, however, maintains that ecological civilization is another domain of civilization parallel with social civilization, and an integral whole made up of four elements of civilization. As a domain of civilization, ecological civilization is constant and systematic in content, limited in connotation, and holds a fundamental value. The five–sphere integrated plan(economic, political, cultural, social and ecological progress) will combine the construction of the four elements of civilization and push forward the construction of an ecological civilization.

Research on FDI Regulation Framework at the Background of “BRI” Implementation

Alongside "Belt and Road Initiative"(BRI) are mostly developing countries, with complicated geopolitical relationships and poor business environments. Therefore, how to promote Foreign Direct Investment(FDI) cooperation prudently is a critical issue faced by Chinese government and enterprises. On one hand "BRI" is an initiative and cannot establish new organization to coordinate investment disputes, and on the other hand FDI regulations are at crossroad: lacking multilateral mechanism, restructuring regional rules and requiring upgrade of Bilateral Investment Treaties(BITs). In order to protect Chinese overseas investment and prevent potential "BRI" risks, it's indispensable for China to take actions in FDI regulations: in multilateral level to propose global FDI rules and long-term mechanism, in regional level to innovate rules by methods of Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership(RCEP) and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank(AIIB), in bilateral level to upgrade BITs and promote liberalization and facilitation, and in unilateral level to deepen domestic reform and pilot new rules.

Eco–Philosophy——The Theoretical Foundation of Ecological Civilization Construction

Eco–philosophy perceives the world from an ecological perspective, so it is also called the ecological world view. According to Eco–philosophy, the world is a complex "man–society–nature" ecosystem, a community of shared life that exists and works in the form of an integral whole as a living organic system. With the relationship among man, society, and nature being its basic problem, and the harmony of the three being its target, Eco–philosophy, as a holistic philosophical world view, goes beyond the modern philosophy of subject–object dichotomy and helps to facilitate the ecological civilization construction with its new world view, epistemology, methodology and axiology.

Social Work Involved in Targted Poverty Alleviation: From Individual Aid to System Change

The development of social work is to some extent a history of the struggle against poverty. Social work enabled targeted poverty alleviation aims to form a two–way force to implement targeted poverty alleviation policies in a bid to create a new situation featuring top–down policy guidance and bottom–up social engagement. Social work enabled targeted poverty alleviation addresses the bureaucratic defects of government dominance, upgrades the narrow conception of targeted poverty alleviation as individual aid, and pays more attention to the interactions between the poor and environmental elements and the interactions within and between systems from the perspective of eco–system. In practice, this type of poverty alleviation is manifested as social work driven integral specialized poverty alleviation. By organically combining the four systems of subjects, service objects, work processes and implementation results, it advances current targeted poverty alleviation from the mid–shallow level to the deep level. It is expected to fulfill the intrinsic policy objectives of targeted poverty alleviation and explore a supporting system for realizing the modernization of national governance system and capacity in rural areas.

A Study on the Building of an Online Arbitration Mechanism for Settling Trade Disputes Along the Belt and Road

As trade disputes along the Belt and Road keep increasing, how to properly address these disputes has become a focus in the Chinese legal community. At present, when it comes to the settlement of trade disputes along the Belt and Road, both traditional litigation and arbitration are faced with many legal and realistic challenges brought about by the complicated situations along the Belt and Road. Given this, building an online arbitration mechanism for settling trade disputes along the Belt and Road in the context of the Internet economy has been proposed. Traditional litigation is faced with a range of laws from different states, as well as the impact of huge differences in the national political systems, economic strengths and legal cultures regarding specific cases. An online arbitration mechanism may be capable of effectively mitigating the laws of the various states and the impact of the differences between them. Additionally, applying "virtual space" to arbitration is in line with the Internet economy's intrinsic need for higher speed and efficiency. Building an online arbitration mechanism for settling trade disputes along the Belt and Road is also a crucial manifestation of diversifying dispute settlement mechanisms.

Properly Understanding Supply–side Structural Reform in the Cultural Sector

The proposal of supply–side structural reform in the cultural sector is based on theoretical inspiration from the economic sector and actual issues in the cultural sector. A proper understanding of the proposal is crucial to the implementation of the reform which should be based on the backgrounds of macroscopic reform and cultural development of the country as well as the need for theoretical innovation. The reform should be carried out with a clear understanding of China's current conditions, a clarification of the reform thinking, the similarities and differences of supply–side structural reforms between the cultural and the economic sectors, as well as an analysis of issues related to the "supply–side" and "structure" in the cultural sector. Concerted efforts from the government through guidance, and market entities through operation should be made to apply appropriately to the reform principle of "unity of doubles effects." Innovations, especially those in technology and institutions, should be promoted as a new momentum to drive cultural development. Concerted efforts from the government and enterprises should underpin optimal supply and a mechanism for competition should be established to ensure effective supply in the cultural sector. In the meantime, the upgrading of demand should be used as a new guidance for effective supply and investment should be oriented to supplement the need for public cultural services. Attention should be paid to a satisfaction–oriented approach to fill the gaps in cultural consumption. For the cultural industry and undertakings, it is now the prime time which brings along great opportunities for development and challenges for reform. From now on the cultural sector should seek its development from transformation and upgrading. Supported by the central government through policy incentives and driven by technological innovations and the capital markets, the cultural industry will maintain stable growth for a relatively long period. In the implementation of supply–side structural reform in a well–organized and all–round way, governments, markets, enterprises, and the industry should each perform their functions and make concerted efforts for innovation to jointly promote the sound development and sustainable growth of the cultural sector.

Targeted Poverty Alleviation Lies in Precisely Identifying the Poverty–Stricken Population: An Analysis of the Targeting Effect of the Rural Subsistence Allowance Policy

Poverty–stricken populations must be identified precisely in the fight against poverty to implement the strategy of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects by 2020. The analysis based on the household survey in 2013 shows that the targeting accuracy is not high based on the standard of income and the accuracy is higher based on the standard of multidimensional poverty index. But the latter still has a low coverage rate. To gradually achieve integration of the rural poverty line and the rural subsistence allowance line, standards applied to identifying households entitled to subsistence allowances should be changed from the standard of income to multidimensional poverty indexes. A unified standard of subsistence allowances and a unified method for identifying related households should be developed. At the same time, coverage and funding of subsistence allowances should be extended and increased to better meet people's basic needs.

Chinese Sociology: “Chinese Learning” or “Western Learning”

Both the problem consciousness and research characteristics reflected in Chinese sociological traditions are closely connected with the changes and development of the contemporary Chinese society and thus have an impact on the basic features of Chinese sociology. The "for oneself" tradition of Chinese sociology has displayed a fully–open mind for the tradition, the core thought and issue resources of western sociology, and at the same time, it also reflects Chinese solid research on western traditions. This tradition is of great inspiration for us to reflect on the challenges and relevant disputes confronting Chinese sociology today, for how to define and think about the "Chinese learning" or "western learning" problem in Chinese sociology is at the same time a core issue both in the disputes between the theory and the methodology, and in interpreting Chinese "localized" sociology as a discipline.

Historical Contributions and Innovative Development of China's Inclusive Culture

Inclusive culture is a dynamic pattern of cultural integration and innovative development formed in the interactions between man and nature, man and society, and man and others. Chinese culture is among the sources of inclusive culture. Being inheritable, open, assimilative, innovative and self–driven, this inclusive culture significantly contributes to China's ideological evolution, ethnic integration, religious development, economic openness, literature and art prosperity, as well as political wisdom in building a community with a shared future for mankind. Inclusiveness is key to the lasting and sustainable development of traditional Chinese culture. During China's construction of a great modern socialist country, the CPC's leadership over cultural innovation and development must be strengthened; a strong cultural confidence must always be maintained; the prosperity of socialist culture with Chinese characteristics must be further enhanced; the sustainable and integrated development of socialist culture with Chinese characteristics must be promoted; people's need for an enriched cultural life must be satisfied; and more efforts must be made to build a community with a shared future for mankind. Only in this way can the light of China's inclusive culture illuminate the future of globalization.

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A Brief Introduction to the English Periodical of Contemporary Social Sciences