About
The “Reading China Better” project at Leiden University, led by PhD Candidate Vincent Brussee and backed by the Dutch Research Council, aims to develop the most comprehensive platform outside of the People’s Republic of China for analyzing Chinese law and policy. This initiative has gathered millions of documents covering a broad spectrum of topics from AI governance to human rights and environmental policy.
Challenge
Understanding official Chinese documents is essential for grasping the country’s governance, regulatory trends, and international posture. By leveraging Bright Data’s residential proxies, along with experimenting with tools like Scraping Browser and Web Unlocker, Reading China Better improved its data collection process significantly. This technological integration allowed the team to expand their document collection from hundreds of thousands to millions, thereby exponentially increasing their research capability.
Impact
The platform, accessible via readingchinabetter.com, serves as a permanent archive for critical Chinese sources. This effort promotes transparency and ensures the availability of governmental and publicly accessible information, thereby helping to strengthen the global knowledge base on contemporary China.
Interested researchers can apply for access at readingchinabetter.com
