The Chinese State Council Budget Tracker is a repository of financial information published by the Chinese government. As the chief administrative authority in the People’s Republic of China, the State Council directly controls the country’s 26 cabinet-level departments (ministries) and dozens of smaller offices, including those critical to science, technology, and talent recruitment.

In accordance with public disclosure law, organizations subordinate to the State Council submit annual reports to the Ministry of Finance detailing the structure of their offices and anticipated expenditures. CSET compiled the 2019 budget reports of 30 Chinese government departments and offices, and translated more than a dozen of them into English. These documents offer extraordinary insight into the structure and activities of the Chinese government, variously detailing the amount of money Beijing dedicates to recruiting overseas scientists, educating students, and surveilling Chinese netizens.

The Chinese State Council Budget Tracker should not be viewed as an exhaustive audit of all Chinese government spending. It reflects only public budget information from the central government, which does not account for the activities of individual provinces, prefectures, or districts—nor does it account for classified spending. Future updates to the Tracker will include budgetary information from past years and expand the number of featured organizations. If you see an error or would like to provide additional feedback, please fill out this Google Form.

Visit the Chinese State Council Budget Tracker.