China Index
Doublethink Lab and the China In The World network present the China Index, the first cross-regional project to objectively measure and visualize the People‘s Republic of China (PRC)‘s overseas influence through comparable data.
This edition ranks the PRC‘s influence in 101 Country Profiles across nine Domains: Academia, Domestic Politics, Economy, Foreign Policy, Law Enforcement, Media, Military, Society, and Technology. Each Domain comprises 11 Indicators devised by the China Index Committee, a group of renowned China experts, each of which corresponds to an observable phenomenon of PRC influence.
The Indicators are distributed to local experts in Index countries who provide factual evidence for whether the phenomenon is observed or not. Local experts’ responses are reviewed, quantified, and normalized to provide Country Profile and Domain rankings. Together, the Indicators comprise the first and only research effort to compile PRC influence into a single set of observable phenomena. The Country Profiles, Domains, and Indicators will be periodically updated to assist academia, civil society, media, and policymakers in analyzing and understanding the evolving nature and impacts of the PRC‘s global influence.
As of November 2024, Pakistan, Cambodia, and Singapore are ranked as most exposed to PRC influence. North Macedonia, Albania, and Montenegro are ranked as least influenced. Globally, PRC influence is assessed to be most prominent in the Domains of Foreign Policy, Technology, and Economy, and weakest in those of Military and Media.