ZJU releases first big database of Chinese households

A special database focusing on Chinese households was officially released at Zhejiang University on December 25. This is China’s first database integrating offline sample survey data, Internet-based big data and data from governments and administrative agencies.

The Big Database of Chinese Households includes the basic data concerning tens of thousands of urban and rural households in China, including information about the basic household structure, income, expenditure, wealth, employment, etc. 300-plus investigators from Zhejiang University, Anhui University and Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University participated in this project extending from 2011 to 2017.

“While China has captured more and more attention from across the globe, there has been a severe shortage of surveying and gathering of microdata in the domain of social sciences,” said GAN Li, Director of ZJU’s Social Science Experiment Center. “Before ZJU unveiled this database, no third-party had ever offered cross-sectional household data regarding a wide spectrum of social fields, such as consumption, people in poverty, time use, traveling and education, which renders current research incompatible with China’s social and market demand.”

“Our database is primarily based on data from sample surveys conducted offline. It aims at facilitating social studies and policy-making in a real sense,” said ZJU Vice President Luo Weidong.

Researchers, both on and off campus, can gain free access to the database if they submit their research proposal and file their application. However, this database is exclusively intended for academic research.

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