Data Use & Licensing

China Data Portal brings together official and third-party statistics, then adds organization, normalization, translations, charts, metadata, documentation, and delivery tools. Those layers do not all have the same rights.

Effective and last updated: July 10, 2026

Original Source Data

Facts and source datasets remain subject to the ownership, copyright, database rights, licenses, attribution requirements, and usage restrictions of their original providers. Displaying data on ChinaData.live, exposing it through an API, or including it in a custom delivery does not override those requirements or grant rights the original provider has not granted.

Source rules differ. Some official statistics may permit broad reuse with attribution; other government, international, industry, or commercial sources may impose additional limits. A source name or link is not proof of a particular license. Review the dataset page, delivery notes, and original source before downstream use.

China Data Portal Materials

China Data Portal may own original explanatory text, page layouts, software, documentation, and other material it creates. Unless a page, repository, download, or written agreement states a license, those materials are not automatically licensed for republication, commercial reuse, or redistribution merely because they are publicly accessible.

No blanket Creative Commons license applies to every chart, metadata record, cleaned file, or API response. Such items may combine portal-created work with source data or third-party names and require a material-specific assessment.

Public API and Downloads

Public access is a delivery method, not a transfer of ownership. You may use public endpoints and downloads under the Terms of Use, but remain responsible for source-specific rights, required notices, and applicable law. Keep source fields and rights notices with copied data.

Attribution

When the source permits your use, a practical citation format is:

Original source: [Source Name], [Release or Table]. Accessed via ChinaData.live, “[Dataset Title],” [URL], retrieved [YYYY-MM-DD].

Use any source-mandated citation instead when provided. Do not remove copyright notices, source notes, release names, units, revision notes, or links supplied with data.

Commercial Use and Redistribution

Payment for a cleaned file, custom extract, API feed, or support covers the agreed delivery work and service. It does not purchase ownership of public facts or waive third-party restrictions. Unless a written order expressly permits it, a delivery does not include rights to resell the file, redistribute a substantial database, offer a competing feed, sublicense source material, or use China Data Portal branding as an endorsement.

Redistribution, white-label products, high-volume feeds, or embedding data in a customer-facing commercial product may require both a separate China Data Portal agreement and permission from the original provider.

Dataset-Specific Terms Control

A dataset page, source note, download, quote, order form, or delivery note may contain more specific requirements. Those requirements control for that material. If rights are unclear, contact the original provider before commercial or large-scale redistribution.

Independence and Trademarks

ChinaData.live is not affiliated with, endorsed by, sponsored by, or authorized by an original source unless explicitly stated. Provider names, agency names, logos, and trademarks belong to their owners. Source identification does not grant permission to use those marks or imply endorsement.

Questions

For questions about a specific delivery, email [email protected]. We can explain the recorded source and rights included in our written order, but cannot grant rights owned by a third party. See also the Privacy Policy.