China Legal Knowledge Database (CLKD)

The most current and accurate resources on Chinese laws and regulations

China Legal Knowledge Database (CLKD) is a comprehensive cross-database legal knowledge discovery service, providing access to authoritative legal content from the People’s Republic of China, with coverage from 1949 to the present. Offered via the China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) platform, CLKD comprises three sub-databases – Laws and Regulations, Cases, and Literary Papers – as well as featured content from government gazettes and contract documents.

CLKD features over 4 million articles, including various resource types such as journals, dissertations, conference proceedings, and newspapers on a wide range of subjects including jurisprudence and history of law, civil and commercial lay, environment and resources protection law, national security and military law, criminal law, and more. CLKD boasts comprehensive navigation and search tools, while its knowledge network and three-in-one displays of related laws and regulations, cases, and literary papers allow users to expand their research and comparative analysis of the development of legal thought in China.

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China Legal Knowledge

Key Stats

  • Archive: 1949-present
  • Language: Chinese with English interface
  • Frequency: Daily updates; newly enacted laws available within 48 hours
  • Format: Full text
  • Producer: Tongfang Knowledge Network Ltd.
  • Platform: CNKI (TKN)

CLKD Content

CLKD offers primary and secondary sources that cover various legal topics.

CLKD-Laws and Regulations: Over 1.1 million articles since 1949; Covers laws, administrative, departmental, and local government regulations, judicial interpretations, industrial rules, and International treaties etc.

CLKD-Cases: Nearly 1 million articles since 1979; includes judicial documents released by national courts and case reviews by experts. Covers civil economic disputes, intellectual property right disputes, admiralty and maritime commerce disputes, criminal offence disputes, administrative reconsideration, cases of administrative execution, cases of judicial expertise, etc.

CLKD-Literary Papers: Over 3.2 million articles since 1979; sources include:

  • Law journals: 200+, with law papers from 6,000+ journals
  • Core journals: 28
  • Monograph series: 50+
  • Communiques: 100+
  • Exclusive authorized journals: 10+
  • Central comprehensive newspapers: 8
  • Central industry newspapers: 130+
  • Legal newspapers: 20+
  • Local newspapers: 430+
  • Qualified doctoral degree-granting organizations: 100+
  • Qualified master’s degree-granting organizations: 340+

CLKD also inlcudes:
Government Gazettes: Over 450,000 articles since 1949; over 180 publications including policy papers, white papers, speeches by leaders, work reports, etc. Important publications from the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, State Council of the PRC, Ministry of Finance of the PRC, National Health Commission of the PRC, etc.

Contract Documents: Over 1,000 articles since 2000; includes instructive contracts from State Administration for Industry and Commerce, and associations of various industries.

CLKD content is classified according to 14 categories and hundreds of subjects. Categories include:

  • Jurisprudence and History of Law
  • Constitution
  • Administrative Law
  • Civil and Commercial Law
  • Economic Law
  • Environment and Resources Protection Law
  • Criminal Law
  • Criminology
  • Litigation Law
  • Judicial administrative system
  • International Law
  • National Security and Military Law
  • Generalization of Law
  • Knowledge Database of Public Security

CLKD Features and Functions

CLKD features the most official sources and most comprehensive resource types:

  • Laws and Regulations: Strict criteria for selection, items are searchable, and each has its own CNKI Knowledge Network Node.
  • Cases: Focus on selecting typical cases to process, cases are reviewed by experts, provide more reference value than a judgement document.
  • Literary Papers: Access to the world’s largest Chinese database with full authorization from publishers, papers are fully retrospective and updated in a timely manner, all core journals are included.
  • Navigation: Navigate by categories and subjects or by specific resources including journals, doctoral dissertations, master’s theses, conference proceedings, conference sponsors, and newspapers.
  • Search: Cross-search all materials, or basic, advanced and professional search by papers, cases, and laws. Search multiple fields including title, author, author’s institution, source, keyword, abstract, full text, subject, reference, and China Library Classification (CLC) code. Sort results by authority, nature of case, issue, court, citation frequency, and more.
  • Knowledge networks: CNKI’s Knowledge Network Node supports comparative analysis, and deeper research by connecting laws and regulations, cases, and papers together, via links to related documents, bibliographies, references, citations, treaties. In addition, CLKD offers users a panoramic research background with a three-in-one display of related papers, laws and regulations, and cases.
  • Language resources: Interface features transitive verb and noun interpretation.
About China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI)

CNKI is the world’s most comprehensive online resource for accessing China’s intellectual output. This powerful platform is the product of Tongfang Knowledge Network, Beijing, and encompasses academic journals, dissertations, conference papers, news, and many other resources that put the knowledge of China in the sciences and humanities at your fingertips. With tens of millions of articles and growing every day, CNKI is a foundation for any serious research on China. CNKI is hosted in the United States by East View and updated daily.

View all CNKI Resources

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Related Resources

The Encyclopedia of Taiwan
China Yearbooks Full-Text Database (CYFD)
Chinese Social Science Library (CSSL)

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