China is a unitary one-party state led by the Communist Party. It combines state planning and large state-owned enterprises with a vast private sector, extensive information controls and an industrial policy focused on advanced technology.
In the 12 Axes register, China leans hardest on Democratic – Autocratic: Autocratic 95%; the register median is balanced 50%.
Take the test and this line shows how close your twelve scores are to China, and the axis where you differ most.
Where China sits on each of the twelve axes, in four categories. The label is our estimate; the line under it says why.
Centralized
Party centre directs all provinces
Autocracy
Communist Party monopoly on power
Authoritarian
Pervasive censorship and surveillance
Nationalist
National rejuvenation doctrine
Military-Focused
Rapid military modernisation
Assimilationist
Sinicisation of minorities and religion
Social Democratic
State firms lead, large private sector
Interventionism
Five-year plans, industrial policy
Moderate
Export power with protected sectors
Atheist
Officially atheist ruling party
Conservative
Promotes family and traditional culture
Technological
State-driven AI and biotech push
Set against the median of all 195 countries in the register.
Irreligious – Religious
On Irreligious – Religious, China is at Irreligious 83%. The register median is Religious 68%.
Progressive – Traditional
On Progressive – Traditional, China is at Traditional 68%, almost the register median of Traditional 68%.
Closeness is 100 minus the root-mean-square distance on all twelve axes.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org · www.britannica.com
Map: Ssolbergj, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons, cropped and resized.
Last updated: 2026-10-15
The tiers on this page are our estimates from public positions and policies. They are not an official statement by the person or the government concerned. Two independent passes scored every axis and a third settled the differences. How the register works. Found a mistake? Write to [email protected].
