Research on the Pathways of China–Africa Educational Cooperation in Promoting Africa's Modernization Development in the New Era

Educational cooperation, as the cornerstone and vanguard of people-to-people exchanges and practical cooperation between China and Africa, holds irreplaceable strategic significance for enhancing the quality of Africa's human capital and accelerating its structural transformation and modernization process. This paper employs “demand–supply–adaptation” as its core analytical framework and aims to systematically explore how the educational cooperation between China and Africa can serve Africa's goal of modernization more precisely and effectively. First, through reviewing and analyzing the domestic and international research literature, this paper clarifies the focus, paradigms, and shortcomings of existing research, identifying the knowledge contribution of this study. Second, utilizing detailed macro-level data, case studies, and comparative research methods, it comprehensively presents the multidimensional status, structural characteristics, and development trends of China–Africa educational cooperation in areas such as student exchanges, cooperative education, vocational and technical training, language and cultural exchange, and emerging digital education. This paper also deeply analyzes the pressing and specific demands placed on the education system by Africa's modernization development across key dimensions like economic diversification, industrialization, agricultural modernization, social governance upgrading, and digital transformation. Third, based on the cooperative principle of “Africa's needs and China's strengths,” this paper innovatively proposes systematic countermeasures and suggestions for constructing new, multi-level, high-quality, sustainable, and future-oriented pathways for China–Africa educational cooperation:(a) promoting the strategic focus of cooperation to extend from “hard infrastructure” support to empowering “soft infrastructure”;(b) deepening the integration of industry and education and school–enterprise collaboration to precisely align with Africa's industrial development needs; vigorously developing digital education and jointly building a smart education ecosystem to help Africa bridge the digital divide;(c) improving an evidence-based, third-party evaluation system for cooperative effectiveness and a full-process quality assurance system; and(d) promoting the collaborative participation of multiple actors including governments, schools, enterprises, think tanks, and social organizations to build a new cooperative pattern of coconstruction, co-governance, and shared benefits.

The Impact of Entrepreneurial Spirit on Firm-Level New Quality Productive Forces: An Empirical Analysis Based on the TOE Framework

Accelerating the development of new quality productive forces(NQPF), with innovation at its core, has become essential for firm growth in the new era. Drawing on financial data from China's A-share listed companies spanning the period 2010–2023, this study empirically investigates the impact of entrepreneurial spirit on firm-level NQPF. The results indicate that entrepreneurial spirit significantly promotes firm-level NQPF. Mechanism analysis indicates that entrepreneurial effort—underpinned by technological capital accumulation, effective incentive and constraint mechanisms, and a competitive market environment—plays a mediating role in this relationship. Further heterogeneity analysis reveals that, amid China's economic transition, the positive effects of entrepreneurial spirit are more pronounced in non-state-owned enterprises, high-tech firms, and newly established firms. Accordingly, systematic efforts should be pursued across the technological, organizational, and environmental(TOE) dimensions to optimize the cultivation of entrepreneurial spirit. In particular, greater emphasis should be placed on productive entrepreneurial spirit and the constructive role of entrepreneurial effort, so as to fully leverage their contribution to the advancement of firm-level NQPF.

Coupling Development Between Digital Economy–Agriculture Integration and Rural Revitalization in China: Spatiotemporal Disparities and Evolution Trends

This study aims to promote the optimization and upgrading of the economic structure in rural areas of China by focusing on the coupling coordination mechanism between digital economy–agriculture integration and rural revitalization. By examining panel data from 30 Chinese provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities between 2011 and 2022, the research constructs a weight-based evaluation system that integrates subjective and objective methods and a coupling coordination model to reveal its dynamic evolution patterns. Key findings indicate that digital economy–agriculture integration and rural revitalization achieve cross-coupling through critical activities. The impact of digital-agriculture integration on advancing rural revitalization lags by 2–3 years. Although the coupling development degree between the two systems continues to improve, it remains at the stage of primary coordination. Regional disparities are significant, showing a gradient pattern of “high degree of coupling development in the east and low degree of coupling development in the west.”

Chinese Rural Women's Social Media Use: An Empirical Study Adopting the Technology Acceptance Model

Given the growing importance of social media in digital rural development, this study systematically investigated the influence pathways of social media use among rural women in China, drawing on the Technology Acceptance Model(TAM). Employing quantitative research methods, the study conducted empirical tests based on 367 valid questionnaires using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling(PLS-SEM) via SmartPLS 4.0 software. Results indicate that significant associations exist between perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, attitudes toward use, behavioral intention, and actual usage behavior. Specifically, the study finds that rural women's perceived ease of use of social media has a significant and positive influence on both perceived usefulness and attitudes toward use. Perceived usefulness further significantly promotes attitudes toward use and behavioral intention. Moreover, positive attitudes toward usage and strong behavioral intentions were effectively converted into actual social media usage behaviors. This study not only validates the applicability and explanatory power of the TAM model in understanding the digital behavior of Chinese rural women but also provides quantitative evidence for how social media enhances their “digital visibility.” These findings offer practical insights for governments and platform providers to optimize user experiences and strengthen digital skills training. Despite its limitations, including a cross-sectional design and a regional sample, this research holds significant theoretical and practical implications.

Research on the Independent Status of the Data Utilization Right

Among the “three data rights,” the data utilization right has been persistently overlooked, and is similar to a neglected “middle child” in the context of the data rights family. However, it is precisely during the stages of processing and utilization that data undergoes its transformations and where its economic value is ultimately created. A series of recent policy documents on treating data as a factor of production have emphasized that the building of a scientific data property rights system requires a fair and efficient mechanism for benefit distribution, which provides reasonable preference for creators of data value and use value in terms of the income generated by data elements. Constrained by the inertial thinking of property right logic, the data utilization right is often regarded as a “transitional fulcrum” wherein the holders of data resources have to authorize the operators of data products to realize data value thereby. In the future structural design and implementation of the coordination mechanism for the property right system against the backdrop of the data factor-oriented reform, the establishment of data processing and utilization as an independent right will require the implementation of two core initiatives: first, attaching importance to the independent protection of the benefit distribution; second, implementing risk regulation for data security through optimization of governance. These two initiatives will serve as the key for optimizing the data factor governance system and accelerating the release of data value.

An Introduction to Contemporary Social Sciences

A Brief Introduction to the Sichuan Academy of Social Sciences