When researchers cite figures on how satisfied Chinese citizens are with their lives, how they place themselves on the class ladder, or how much they trust other people, the number often comes from the Chinese General Social Survey (中国综合社会调查). Run by the National Survey Research Center at Renmin University of China, CGSS is China’s counterpart to the American General Social Survey — a leading nationwide source for social attitudes and values, running since 2003. Its most recent public release, the 2023 wave, covers 11,326 respondents and was released on 21 June 2025.
Its participation in the International Social Survey Programme also makes it the bridge for comparing Chinese attitudes with those of dozens of other countries.
The essentials
- Producer: National Survey Research Center (NSRC) at Renmin University of China (中国人民大学中国调查与数据中心). Phase I (2003) was launched jointly by the RUC School of Sociology and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Survey Research Center; Phase II has been run by NSRC since 2010.
- Coverage period: 2003–present (annual/biennial; Phase I in 2003, Phase II from 2010). The 2023 release is the newest publicly available round.
- Latest released wave: 2023 — formally released to the public 21 June 2025 (official NSRC announcement). Recent wave sizes: 2015 (N=10,968), 2021 (N=8,148 raw / 5,688 baseline analytic), 2023 (N=11,326). A 2025 wave has not been confirmed as fielded or released.
- Geographic coverage: national, mainland China — urban and rural.
- Unit of observation: individual adults (resident survey); some waves include a household module.
- Update frequency: roughly annual/biennial.
What respondents are asked
Social attitudes and values, subjective wellbeing and happiness, social-class self-placement (a 10-point ladder), trust and social networks, political participation and attitudes, income and occupation, education, health (self-rated, physical, mental), religion, family, housing, consumption, and media use. Through the International Social Survey Programme (ISSP) modules, selected waves are designed for direct cross-country comparison.
Collection method
Multi-stage stratified sampling with face-to-face interviewing. Important design note for the latest wave: the 2023 round used a mixed-mode design — face-to-face full survey (N=5,583), CATI telephone interviews (N=2,174), and web survey (N=1,841), with fieldwork spanning July 2023–January 2024 (per a WAPOR conference methods paper). Co-PI of the survey program: Wang Weidong, NSRC (per an NYU CASER event page).
Access
- Access point: the official NSRC portal, http://nsrc.ruc.edu.cn — data released publicly via the NSRC data platform; the 2023 wave was released to the public on 21 June 2025. Link: http://nsrc.ruc.edu.cn
- Access terms: the 2023 wave is a public release; whether earlier waves are open-download or require application is not confirmed per wave.
- Citation: cite per the NSRC release notice for the wave used.
Where it fits in research
CGSS is the principal attitudinal complement to the household panel surveys: social attitudes and values, subjective wellbeing, class identity and stratification, trust and social capital, political attitudes and participation, and housing inequality and status perception. It is the natural source for tracking social-equity perceptions, class identity, and wellbeing as outcome context in governance assessments. The ISSP modules allow cross-country comparison tables (e.g., trust or class identity against peer economies).
What it cannot tell you — this matters
- CGSS is a repeated cross-section, not a panel. Each wave draws an independent sample, so it cannot track the same individuals over time. Do not present CGSS trend lines as within-person change — and be aware that compositional shifts between independent waves can masquerade as social change. For panel analysis, use CFPS, CHARLS, or CHFS.
- It measures attitudes and self-reported status — not behaviors, administrative outcomes, or policy implementation. It also does not measure elite, institutional, or firm-level variables.
- The 2023 mixed-mode design breaks strict comparability with earlier face-to-face-only waves. Mode effects make wave-to-wave comparisons involving 2023 harder to interpret than within-mode comparisons.
- Usable sample sizes are below headline sizes. The 2021 wave’s raw file shrank substantially after cleaning (8,148 → 5,688 analytic) — a reminder to report the analytic N, not the headline N.
- Release lag is long: the 2023 wave reached the public in mid-2025.
- Sensitive items — political attitudes, corruption perceptions — are likely undercounted in a face-to-face survey context in China; treat them as design-caveated, not as precise measures.
Known revisions and design changes
- Mixed-mode introduction: 2023 (face-to-face + CATI + web) vs face-to-face-only in earlier waves — a comparability break.
- A 2025 wave’s fielding or release has not been confirmed as of September 2026.
- Earlier waves’ access terms vary and are not confirmed per wave.
Authoritative documentation
- Official NSRC portal (identity, Chinese title, producer, Phase I/II history, 2023 release notice of 2025-06-21): http://nsrc.ruc.edu.cn — link this URL
- WAPOR conference paper (2023 mixed-mode design, mode-level Ns, fieldwork dates)
- Nature Humanities & Social Sciences Communications 2026 paper (2015/2021/2023 wave Ns); Frontiers in Sociology 2026 paper (2021 sample detail); Global Century Press JCGCP paper (Phase I/II history, 2003 launch, HKUST partnership, ISSP link)