Our primary users are policy makers, scholars, analysts, students, and other data users who are performing analytical work about China. Therefore, we rate a website based on how well it can provide creditable and relevant information to support China-related analysis, rather than the overall reputation or popularity of a website. For example, Yahoo.com is arguably one of the best websites in the world, but we would not rate it highly because it is less relevant to China-related analysis.

Under each of the categories on the left, the websites are listed in the order of their relevance to the category, rather than by their rating. Therefore, you may see some low-rated websites being listed at the top, while some high-rated sites at the bottom, or not listed at all.

In general, we strongly encourage our users to rate a website based on the following guidelines, so that we can rate all websites consistently. In the long run, the system will automatically adjust a website's rating according to how our users rate and review the website.

Scoring Matrix: Criteria Yes No Is the site a credible source for information about China? 1 0 Can the site provide highly relevant data for China-related analysis? 1 0 Is the information/data less than three years old or is the data not time-sensitive? 1 0 Can the site provide comprehensive information in support of China analysis? 1 0 Is the site easy to use? 1 0

Scoring Symbols: Total Score = 5, Excellent Total Score = 4, Very Good Total Score = 3, Good Total Score = 2, Poor but interesting Total Score = 1, Not recommended