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Sources for Modern and Contemporary China and Taiwan

Full-Text Databases

Archives of the Communist Party of China: (CPC)  "Contains archives and publications of the Communist Party since its establishment in 1921, including: constitutions, documents from the Communist Party's National Congress (reports, name lists, pictures, news reports and commentaries, audio/video files and other research materials), publications of leaders including Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai, Liu Shaoqi, Zhu De, Ren Bishi, Deng Xiaoping, and Chen Yun, and daily activities of current party elites since 1989.” New database!

Party and Government Documents in English: (PGDiE) “Collection of official documents in English, covering various levels of Chinese government, Communist Party of China (CPC) and National People's Congress (NPC) from authoritative sources from 1921 onwards…[aimed to] support undergraduate and graduate courses in Chinese studies, and …research on the history of Communist Party of China (CPC), the Chinese government, and National People's Congress (NPC).” New database!

Shanghai Library Republican Periodicals: This massive database provides full page images for Republican-era periodicals held by the Shanghai Library, as well as several late-Qing and Republican newspapers, including 新聞報, 時報, and 上海新報, and more than 400 tabloids, 1897 and 1949. **NEW: The "Full-text Database of Modern Chinese Books" (1840~1949) contains more than 120,000 books, including the treasured collections unique to the Shanghai Library.

Global Press Archive:  Late Qing and Republican-Era Chinese Newspapers This collection of hundreds of newspaper titles from across China provides researchers a richly comprehensive perspective on life, culture, and politics throughout the collapse of the Qing Dynasty, the years of provisional government and civil war, and the birth of the People’s Republic.

Contemporary Chinese Village Gazetteer Data 數字村莊The CCVG Data project offers scholars a dataset based on the University of Pittsburgh East Asian Library’s growing collection of Chinese village gazetteers. For more information, see here.

Belt and Road Database 一带一路数据库 Under the Social Science Literature Publishing House, the "Belt and Road" database aims to serve the national "Belt and Road" construction to meet the basic needs of the three mainstream users, namely government agencies, scientific research institutions, enterprises and institutions.

 

Statistical Data Sources

China Data Online 中国数据在线: The China Data Online database includes (1) China Statistical Databases; (2) China Census Databases; and (3) China Spatial Data Service (China Geo-Explorer). It provides easy access to comprehensive statistics, and Census data of economics and population at national, provincial, city, county, and even township levels. See here for more information.

China Statistical Yearbooks Database (CSYD, 中国经济社会大数据研究平台) is the largest and most authoritative statistical database in China. It contains all key statistical yearbooks published in mainland China, covering various types of census and survey data including analysis reports, statistical summaries, investment material, and data compilations. Content in CSYD is classified by 18 industries, 40 districts and 6 types of documents, and covers a wide range of economic, social, and environmental topics.

China Infobank China INFOBANK stands out as the best source for China business information worldwide. The company collects, indexes and broadcasts China business economic information in timely manner to satisfy requirements from different business sectors. 

2010 National Population Census of China 中国人口普查数据库 Note: CNKI has had to suspend this site for now. Please check back for updates. 

National Bureau of Statistics of China [中国统计年鉴 1999-2023] The National Bureau of Statistics is in charge of statistics and economic accounting in China. You can view China statistical yearbooks here as well as other materials related to Chinese government data. 

 

Scholarly Literature

The following links are for commonly used databases that amalgamate scholarly literature in one powerful platform. The descriptions next to each link provide further information.

Oral History

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