People's Daily database is the
official voice of the central government of the People's Republic of China For the last 54
years, the People's Daily has published daily issues that provide the single location where
the central government and the Communist Party of China announce their respective policies
and disseminate governmental, political, and economic messages to the public and the world.
Most importantly, since its inception the newspaper has been the true barometer of the
political climate of Chinese society on a daily basis.
Before the Open Door policy was adopted by China in the late 1970's, the People's Daily
could not be distributed outside China because it contained sensitive government
information and policies. Once the People's Daily became available worldwide, the
international community quickly realized that it was the best of the Chinese periodicals
and indispensable in dealing with Chinese society. The People's Daily is the first and
probably the only choice of major libraries and universities in the Western world, mainly
because it is the only publication that provides complete documentation of the official
record of the Chinese government from 1948 to the present.