I have just completed an update to the Chinese Government Map for National Energy and Environmental Policy. In addition to adding a few more institutions, based on a suggestion from the WRI’s Debbi Seligsohn, I also attempted to color-code the map based on institution category. For now, I have differentiated by four categories: government bodies (e.g. institutions whose employees are considered government officials (and whose websites end in .gov.cn)), government-affiliated supporting researching institutions (zhishu or shiye danwei 直属 or 事业单位), government-affiliated institutions directly under the State Council (国务院直属事业单位 – maybe you could call these super 事业单位?), and State-Owned Enterprises.

Both the term and the concept of shiye danwei 事业单位 are difficult to translate into English. I have heard them described as “government-affiliated,” “pseudo-government,” and “quasi-government;” they are supporting institutions / think thanks that carry out basic scientific research, policy development and drafting, economic scenario analysis, etc., and may or may not have some regulatory authority (for example, to issue compliance certificates). When and if I can determine a further classification system for China’s many shiye danweis, I will update the map accordingly.