About the Data

In general, the non-time series map and scatter plot display the most recent year for which data is available. Exceptions are made to take annual averages across all years for which data is available for variables for which year-over-year data is particularly noisy.

All data for Chinese Digital Development Assistance, Chinese Digital Investment (>$100m), Imports of Digital-related Products from China, Chinese FDI Flows, Chinese FDI Stocks, and GDP are in US dollar figures.

Data on GDP and population, both as a standalone variable and for all “per capita” and “as % of GDP” calculations, is taken from the World Bank’s World Development Indicators. Data on Internet Penetration is also taken from the World Development Indicators. 2020 data on internet penetration is excluded due to a large number of missing values.

Data on Chinese Digital Development Assistance is from the Global Chinese Development Finance Dataset 2.0 created by the AidData lab at William and Mary University. Included are all projects related to telecommunications coded under the Communications sector code, all projects flagged as Huawei-related in the dataset, and select other projects with descriptions that identify them as digital-related.

Data on Chinese Digital Investment (>$100m) is taken from AEI’s China Global Investment Tracker and includes all Investment and Construction projects listed under the Technology sector.

Data on Imports of Digital-related Products from China is taken from Trade Data Monitor’s proprietary datasets, published with permission and themselves derived from annual export data from China Customs. This data includes only exports from the mainland China customs territory and thereby excludes a significant volume of exports transshipped through Hong Kong. “Digital-related Products” refers to all products included under HS codes 8471.41, 8471.49, 8471.50, 8471.60, 8471.70, 8471.80, 8486.20, 8517.12, 8517.50, 8517.61, 8517.62, 8517.69, 8526.51, 8534.00, 8541.50, 8542.21, 8542.29, 8542.31, 8542.32, 8542.33, 8542.39, 8542.60, 8542.70, 8542.90, 8802.60, and 9001.10. Products under 8802.60 are included due to the propensity of commercial satellite launches to provide digital-related services.

Data on Chinese FDI Flows and Chinese FDI Stock was compiled by NBR researchers from Chinese Ministry of Commerce Statistical Bulletins of China’s Outward Direct Investment as well as OECD data.

Data on China’s Overseas Presence (including Alibaba, Huawei, and Tencent Data Centers; Alibaba, Baidu, BGI (Beijing Genomics Institute) Group, GEIDCO (Global Energy Interconnection Development and Cooperation Organization), Huawei, State Grid, Tencent, and TikTok Offices; Beidou Base Stations; and Smart Cities) is drawn from publicly available sources, including company websites, and the ASPI Mapping China’s Tech Giants project.

Data on Freedom on the Net and Freedom in the World is drawn from Freedom House’s reports of the same names.

The Corruption Perceptions Index data is drawn from Transparency International’s reports.

Data on Companies Participating in an MSA (Multi-Source Agreement) with a Chinese Entity was compiled by NBR researchers from individual MSAs’ websites and related press releases. Data on W3C (World Wide Web Consortium) Working Group Participants, oneM2M Members, ETSI (European Telecommunications Standards Institute) Members, and ETSI Committee Members was compiled by NBR researchers from the W3C, oneM2M, and ETSI websites. Data on ITU-T (International Telecommunications Union) and ITU-R SG (Study Group) and WP (Working Party) Chairs and 3GPP (3^rd Generation Partnership Project) Members was compiled by project Principal Investigator Emily de La Bruyère from publicly available sources.

If you have any questions regarding the data used in this project, contact [email protected].