Chinaʼs open-door approach from 80s changed drastically when Xi Jinping took charge. The country that once showed signs of transparency now keeps its data under strict control
Getting info in China became super-hard (especially after covid hit). The case of Canadian citizens Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor who spent three years in jail shows how risky research work became — but theres still ways to study China
The economic sphere which was once safe from political control isnt protected anymore. Many key stats disappeared from public view: youth jobs data vanished and foreign consulting firms got shut down. The state-run Chinese Academy removed Zhu Hengpeng — a top economist who spoke against some policies
The new system focuses on politics not numbers: its a big change from the old way that cared mostly about GDP growth. This shift made China less open to foreign investment and reduced communication with other countries
Despite these limits theres lots of ways to study China now:
- Satellite pics showing construction and movement
- Online data from social networks
- Market transaction info
- Government docs and speeches
- Local complaint boards
- Job posting analysis
The Chinese system gives out tons of info about its plans and worries. The stats website (stats.gov.cn) has lots of time-series data: from house prices in 70 cities to factory profits. Sure some numbers need fact-checking — like covid death stats from late-22 which seem way off
Chinas complex system cant be controlled by just one person. Even though Xi has huge power he cant stop every scammer in Shanghai or fix delivery worker pay in Chongqing. Understanding this huge country needs different research methods and careful data-analysis