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Key Definitions

  • PRC: People’s Republic of China. We use this term and not China nor the Chinese Communist Party to represent the entire Chinese state.
  • PRC influence: The power to affect the decisions of other countries so that they align with the cultural, diplomatic, economic, military, political, or social interests of the PRC.
  • PRC-connected individuals or entities: Actors undertaking activities under an arrangement with; in the service of; on the order or at the request of; or under the direction of the PRC government or party-state apparatus. For the purposes of the China Index, PRC corporations, enterprises, and state-owned enterprises all fall into this category.
  • Indicator: A question testing for the existence of an observable phenomenon of PRC influence.
  • Domain: A specific area in which the PRC may exert its influence.
The data underlying the China Index is collected via Indicators distributed to regional partners. Eligible partners include qualified and nonpartisan research institutes, think tanks, community representatives, as well as civil society organizations and independent journalists. Considering the challenge of collecting data on a global scale, the Index solely focuses on fact-based Indicators, and are framed to avoid eliciting opinions, preferences, or judgements from respondents. To minimize potential bias, we ask regional partners to consult and verify the data with as many local experts as possible. Each response should be backed by evidence from at least one supporting reference; this supporting evidence is published as part of the China Index.

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Timeframe

The Indicators are compiled based upon observations made from January of the previous year, up to the deadline for response submission. For example, responses for the China Index Beta edition of 36 countries were collected by March 2021; therefore, they intend to capture PRC influence from January 2020 to March 2021. Regional partners aim to provide documentary evidence current within 18 months of the deadline, though older documents are accepted if they evidence a continuous phenomenon. China Index rankings are determined by summing scores for all 99 Indicators and dividing by the maximum possible score for each country, which varies as some regional partners may choose to skip Indicators in some countries.