The Universities Service Centre was established in 1963 to serve Western academics and budding scholars engaged in the study of contemporary China. Becoming part of The Chinese University of Hong Kong in 1988 it was renamed The Universities Service Centre for China Studies (USC). The USC Collection is one of the most extensive and accessible collections on post-1949 China.

Since January 2021 the USC Collection became part of CUHK Library, complementing the Library’s extensive collections. As always, local and international researchers are welcome to consult the collection regardless of institutional affiliation, and visiting scholars are invited to book study spaces. Academic exchange and activities continue under the auspices of the Institute of Chinese Studies (ICS).

To assist CUHK Library in future development of the USC Collection an Advisory Group of eminent scholars has been established. We are honored to have Professor Deborah Davis (Sociology, Yale University) and Professor Andrew G. Walder (Sociology, Stanford University) as our external advisors. Within CUHK Professor Pierre Landry (Government and Public Administration), Professor Jan Kiely (Centre for China Studies) and Professor Rowena He (History) have kindly agreed to be members of the Advisory Group.

High-lights of the USC Collection

• Complete runs of more than 250 provincial and national newspapers and close to 1,500 periodicals from the early 1950s.
• Over 1,300 constantly updated regional and statistical yearbooks.
• A large collection of provincial, city, county and village gazetteers, including volumes on special topics.
• Over 80,000 both Chinese and English books on post-1949 China, with a focus on regional research data.
• In-house developed databases and datasets include:
  • History of Contemporary Chinese Political Movements Databases
  • Databank for China Studies (DCS)
  • Barometer on China’s Development (BOCD)

All material of the collection can be searched via the LibrarySearch.