This paper delves into the relationship between China's tax system and the alleviation of income inequality. After achieving a moderately prosperous society, China confronts the issue of income inequality, with a Gini coefficient in 2022 higher than the international warning line. The tax system, especially personal income tax, aims to regulate income distribution, yet its current effectiveness is limited. China's tax system encompasses multiple tax categories like value - added tax, corporate income tax, and personal income tax. However, the heavy reliance on indirect taxes and loopholes in tax collection and management weaken its role in narrowing the income gap. Income inequality in China is prominent in urban - rural and industrial dimensions, with significant income disparities. The tax system exerts regulatory effects. Personal income tax, through progressive tax rates and deductions, eases income inequality. Property tax regulates wealth distribution by targeting real estate and inheritance, while consumption tax impacts different income groups' consumption through differentiated tax rates.

Special and differential treatment (SDT) is of vital importance to developing countries. Through this mechanism, developing countries have gradually gained access to developed markets, enjoyed tariff reductions, and received technical assistance. This has promoted trade liberalization, facilitated their integration into the global trade system, and enhanced their capacity to participate in international affairs. However, the SDT system still has several shortcomings that need to be addressed through appropriate reforms and improvements.

The article attempts to explore the background of the establishment of the dispute settlement body under the World Trade Organization’s dispute settlement system, and analyze whether the existing legal interpretation power of the dispute settlement body is suspected of exceeding its authority through the legal interpretation disputes arising out of the DS379 case and the laws of relevant countries. Simultaneously, in analyzing the interpretations of the panel and the Appellate Body in the DS379 case report, possible solutions are proposed for the current legal interpretation issues of the dispute settlement body and the current status of the suspension of the Appellate Body. The Appellate Body has been shut down for several years until now, making it impossible to deal with the appeals and fulfil the mandate of the WTO in facilitating inter-member trade disputes. Trade turmoil now is darkening the world horizon, seeking new solutions within the structure of the past mechanisms is infinitely more possible than the restoration of the old ones. Through the analysis of the DS379 case, it is not only to explore whether the DSB is suspected of overstepping its authority, but also to seek how to leverage the advantages of the existing dispute resolution mechanism in the current context of global conflicts.

In the digital age, the right to privacy faces more severe threats, which are reflected in the diversification of privacy infringement methods, the control of personal privacy by platforms and the associated risk of data breaches, and the increasing frequency of privacy violations. Currently, China has not established dedicated legislation for privacy protection; instead, there are scattered provisions in certain laws, administrative regulations, local regulations, and rules. The challenges in privacy protection are mainly reflected in the following aspects: incomplete legislation, difficulty in identifying privacy infringements, the exacerbation of privacy violations due to the imbalance of power between platforms and individuals, and insufficient legal remedies. In the digital age, privacy protection should be strengthened in three key areas: first, improving privacy protection legislation; second, establishing mandatory information disclosure obligations for businesses; and third, enhancing legal remedies for users.

This paper explores the role of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in addressing transnational financial crimes and the challenges facing it. Because of the acceleration of globalisation, crimes like money laundering, tax evasion, corruption, and terrorist financing have become common tools for global criminals. Since the ICC primarily prosecutes war crimes, genocide, and crimes against humanity, its current legal framework does not extend to financial crimes. By finding the ICC’s jurisdictional limitations and real-world case studies, this paper reveals how gaps in international law create openings for financial criminals to act with little fear of prosecution. To bridge these gaps, it proposes key reforms, including expanding the ICC’s jurisdiction, improving its technical and investigative capabilities, and stimulating stronger global cooperation. In the end, this paper points out that tackling financial crime worldwide requires a more adaptive and cooperative approach to ensure justice systems can keep pace with the ever-changing tactics of financial criminals.

The choices made by upper-middle-class families regarding breastfeeding, hiring wet nurses, or using early forms of artificial feeding reflect a complex interplay of various factors. These include class identity, contemporary medical ideas, family roles, and social traditions. For example, in the 19th century, many people believed that breastfeeding was harmful to a mother’s health or that it was not the duty of upper-class women to feed their own children. Others viewed the hiring of a wet nurse as a sign of wealth and status. At the same time, doctors and medical literature began to highlight the risks associated with wet-nursing, such as poor hygiene, inadequate care, and the transmission of disease. This paper draws on family archives, private diaries, and 19th-century medical texts to examine these challenges in depth. It analyzes the social and cultural reasoning behind infant feeding practices and explores how these ideas evolved over time. Through a micro-historical perspective, this study reveals how the everyday lives of Hungary’s upper-middle-class families were influenced by broader processes of modernization, developments in medicine, and changing social values.

As a product of emerging anime culture, “goods” cater to the consumption interests of young people. With the emergence of various types of goods in large quantities, the economic effects brought by the “goods economy” and the reasons behind its explosive growth are worth studying. This article investigates the relationship between goods economy and the consumption characteristics of young people. This article first elaborates on the origin of goods economy and its operating mechanism. By comparing with the fan economy and blind box economy, the paper then analyzes the marketing style of goods economy, that it can leverage the advantages of these two economies to achieve its own success. Goods can provide young consumers with sufficient emotional value, while being affordable and generating sufficient consumer appeal. Purchasing goods has increased the consumption frequency of young people, led to impulsive consumption, and intensified consumption comparison. Goods economy, therefore, has strong development prospects, which can drive commercial development and strengthen cultural promotion.

Along with China’s sustained rapid economic growth, the nation confronts persistent structural challenges manifested in widening income inequality and deepening regional developmental imbalances. This study conducts an examination of how China’s fiscal architecture contributes to these economic disparities by analyzing the current tax structure and the tax-sharing system. The analysis first argues that the regressive nature of China’s tax system perpetuates wealth concentration. Systemic deficiencies in direct taxation, particularly the delayed implementation of property tax reforms, significantly undermine fiscal redistribution effectiveness. This article then investigates that, after the reform of the tax-sharing system, local governments are facing serious mismatch between the administrative responsibility and fiscal capacity. The imbalance has further compelled local governments to increasingly rely on land finance and debt instruments, which exacerbated regional disparities in financial capacity. The article highlights three policy responses. It further evaluates the realization path and fundamental requirements of the rural revitalization strategy, the resistance faced by the property tax reform, and the deficiency of endogenous incentives and debt inflation that fiscal transfer payments bring.

This paper examines the transformative impact of financial technology (fintech) platforms, such as Alipay and WeChat Pay, on the traditional banking system, with a particular focus on the financial landscape in Macau. While Internet finance has not fundamentally changed the structure of financial products, its convenience has significantly reduced reliance on offline banking, especially for underserved populations and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). In Macau, a free market economy supported by the post-2021 Guangdong-Macau integration policy, SMEs face complex lending procedures and stringent collateral requirements from traditional banks, a challenge exacerbated by the prevalence of COVID-19 pandemic and rising interest rates. Alipay’s credit loans have become a lifeline for Macau’s high-risk tertiary SMEs. The study highlights that total bank lending declined from $783 billion in 2016 to $518.6 billion in 2024, reflecting the waning influence of banks in Macau. By analyzing Macau’s financial landscape and the competitive advantages of fintech powered by artificial intelligence and big data, this paper argues that traditional banks must adapt through digital transformation to financial platforms. Failure to address inefficiencies risks losing customers and market share, thereby threatening financial stability and inclusive economic growth.

This paper examines the Variable Interest Entity (VIE) structure through a case study of Luckin Coffee which analyzes its risks, regulatory challenges, and comparative advantages over franchising, joint ventures, and Red Chip structures. The VIE structure, initially developed by the Financial Accounting Standards Board during the event of Enron scandal, enables Chinese firms like Luckin Coffee to bypass foreign investment restrictions and access global capital markets via protocol control rather than holding equity right directly. However, the case reveals critical vulnerabilities, including legal uncertainties, cross-border supervision gaps, and data fraud risks, taking Luckin’s 2020 delisting due to financial misconduct as an example. Despite these risks, the study highlights the VIE’s flexibility, tax efficiency, and adaptability to sensitive industries like technology, education and media, arguing that its stability relies on corporate integrity and transparent governance. The analysis concludes that while the VIE structure remains a double-edged sword, its strategic benefits for globalization outweigh inherent risks if coupled with stronger regulatory frameworks and ethical cognition.