New energy vehicles (NEVs) can effectively reduce emissions and alleviate global climate problems, and are crucial to global sustainable development. China is the world's largest seller of NEVs, but charging stations have always been a major constraint to the development of NEVs. To clearly characterize the structural characteristics of an innovation association network of NEV charging stations, this study analyzes the structural characteristics of China's innovation association network of NEV charging stations with the patent data since 2007 in the Incopat Global Patent Database from the three perspectives of province, city and patent applicant using method of social network analysis (SNA). The findings show the following: (1) The innovation association network of NEV charging stations has been expanded constantly, with the association strength evidently increasing. (2) The innovation association network of NEV charging stations exhibits a typical core-periphery structure, with the quantity of nodes with high association strength varying little, and the quantity of nodes with low- and medium-association strengths exhibiting an evident increasing trend. (3) The effect of regional central cities is enhanced, with an evident group structure. There has been no information barrier caused by excessive small group formation in the province association network, whereas there are small group development trends in city and patent applicant cooperation networks. In addition, policy recommendations for further expanding technological innovation in charging stations to promote the development of the NEV industry are discussed based on the study results.

To clearly describe the structural characteristics of China’s rare earth innovation network (REIN), this study used data on China’s rare earth patents since 2001 in the Incopat global patent database to analyze the structural characteristics of China’s REIN from 2001 to 2020 at the provincial and municipal levels using social network analysis. The study finds the following: (1) The overall characteristics of the network show that the connectivity and diversification of China’s REIN is increasing. (2) The network spatial pattern analysis shows that the REIN exhibits a radial spatial pattern centered on Beijing at both the provincial and municipal levels. (3) Research on network nodes shows that the network is dense in eastern regions and sparse in western regions, showing distinct characteristics of coastal and resource agglomeration. Not all regions with high levels of economic development play leading roles in the REIN. Small and medium-sized cities with abundant rare earth resources also play important leading roles due to their high levels of rare earth innovation. At the provincial and municipal levels, the REIN consists of four subgroups, among which there is not significant factional diversity. (4) In terms of influencing factors, economic development level, technology absorptive capacity, innovation output level, infrastructure, and market leadership have significant impacts at the provincial and municipal levels. In addition, government leadership, industrial structure, and education level have significant impacts at the municipal level. The study clarified China’s technological accumulation in the field of rare earths and provided practical guidance for the innovative development of China’s rare earth industry.

This study aims to characterize the evolution of the innovation network of lithium-ion battery recycling technologies in China in terms of network structure and influential factors, using social network analysis and GeoDetector based on patent data from 2004 to 2023. The following findings are established. First, the network exhibited a small-world effect, changed from a loose to a dense structure, and developed into a dual-core radial structure. Leading firms in lithium-ion battery recycling technologies have established relatively stable internal cooperation. The network experienced the embryonic stage, the initial exploration stage, and the developmental exploration stage, and is now in the intensive exploration stage. The network connections were dense in eastern China but sparse in western China. Second, in terms of industry–university–research cooperation, the main core was industry– industry cooperation, with industry–university and industry–research cooperation also occupying important positions. Universities and research institutes served as “transit stations” in technological innovation. Third and lastly, China’s innovation network of lithium-ion battery recycling technologies was influenced by economic development, tertiary industry development, household consumption, government intervention, and higher education. This study clarifies the technological accumulation and evolution in the field of lithium battery recycling in China, providing insights into the construction and governance of an innovation development system for the lithium battery recycling industry.

From the micro level, this paper thoroughly investigates the influence of environmental regulations (ERS) on the inflow of foreign direct investment (FDI) in China. Firstly, the entropy method was adopted to comprehensively measure the ERS intensities of 283 Chinese cities at prefecture level and above in 2003-2016. Then, the Cournot model was utilized to analyze how ERS affects FDI. After that, fixed-effects model was employed to empirically examine the impacts of ERS intensities in eastern, central, and western regions on FDI inflow. The results show that: The regression results on nationwide, central, and western samples indicate that the influence of ERS variable was significantly negative. This means ERS is indeed an important consideration of foreign investors in location selection. Besides, stricter ERS hinders the inflow of FDI, which agrees with the pollution haven hypothesis. On eastern samples, stricter ERS promotes FDI inflow, that is, the situation in eastern region meets Porter hypothesis. Finally, several suggestions were presented for policymakers based on the empirical results.

Big health industry is an industry that provides whole process and all factor products and services for human comprehensive physical and mental health. With the increasingly close relationship between health and environment, green products take into account the characteristics of environmental protection, resource intensification, safety, and health, so that the green product industry for the purpose of health and environmental protection has become an important branch of the big health industry. To give a clear portrayal of changes in the global green product trade system, this study derives relevant trade data from the World Bank and the UN Comtrade and by analyzing the spatiotemporal evolution characteristics of the global green product trade pattern from 2001 to 2018, and it explores the product structure and status changes of countries (regions) in the global trading system for green products. According to the research findings, the closely connected global trade network for green products continues to expand. This is a typical network comprising “smaller worlds”; the focus of green product exports has largely stayed unchanged, while imports are shifting from North America and East Asia towards North America, Europe, and the Middle East; the spatial structure of the network shows a transition away from the original transcontinental “dual arch” pattern with the United States at the core towards a “transcontinental + intracontinental” one characterized by the coexistence of “multiple arches” centering around Europe and Asia; the trade network adopts a “point-to-point” model, with no obvious interdependence and competition between countries (regions); furthermore, geographically proximate and culturally similar countries are prone to have closer trade ties. By clarifying the global trade network of green products industry under the background of big health industry, it will help to deepen the understanding of the relationship between participating countries, promote the long-term and stable development of national health industry trade, provide the public with more safe and harmless products, better meet the global public’s health needs, and effectively enhance the sustainability of public health.

There exists an uncertain effect of digital technology-related demands on employees’ innovative behaviors because of stress paradox caused by these demands. Drawing upon the theory of stress paradox, this research investigates how career resilience mediates this relationship, with perceived organizational support moderating the effect of digital technology-related demands on career resilience. Based on a survey of 241 respondents, the results of hierarchical regression and path analyses reveal that digital technology-related demands positively influence employees’ innovative behavior through the mediating role of career resilience. Furthermore, perceived organizational support strengthens the positive impact of digital technology-related demands on career resilience, thereby enhancing the indirect effect of these demands on innovative behavior. This study extends existing literature on the drivers of employee innovation and highlights the critical role of career resilience and organizational support for firms navigating digital transformation.