China commands the world's largest standing army with more than two million active personnel, and its OSINT techniques have grown more sophisticated and influential. Today, open sources provide about 80% of useful intelligence. This explains why China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) places such high priority on gathering open-source intelligence.
China's OSINT research techniques showcase a detailed strategy that reaches way beyond military use. The PLA tackles unique OSINT challenges because of the Great Firewall's limits on information flow. Yet it has created innovative OSINT methods through a vast network of private companies, state-owned enterprises and universities. The intelligence system pays close attention to countries like the US, UK, Taiwan, Japan and Australia, and military capabilities and operational concepts from these nations remain under constant scrutiny.
China's OSINT operations gain even more importance in today's geopolitical landscape. The South China Sea channels a quarter of global trade flows and stays central to Chinese intelligence gathering efforts. The Belt and Road Initiative stands as one of the most ambitious infrastructure projects that ever spread across nations. This massive undertaking depends on strong intelligence networks spanning East Asia, Oceania, Africa, Europe and Latin America.
At the core of much of China’s OSINT work is access to data and China has active programmes to harvest as much raw data from global sources as possible. Currently it hasn’t got the capability to analyse what it its collecting in an effective way, but all of that will change with the advent of Quantum computing, a technological revolution only a short time away, and China is leading its development.
China Builds OSINT Capabilities Through Civil-Military Integration
China's military intelligence strategy differs from Western powers through its unique blend of civil and military sectors. China stands apart from many nations by combining economic growth with defence capabilities in a coordinated strategy, according to the Centre for Strategic and International Studies; this fusion helps expand PLA's OSINT capabilities faster and gives access to diverse talent and technology from the civilian sector.
China's Military-Civil Fusion (MCF) strategy thrives on partnerships between the People's Liberation Army, private companies, state-owned enterprises, research organisations, and academic institutions. President Xi Jinping shared this vision at the 19th Party Congress in 2017: "We should ensure that efforts to make our country prosperous and efforts to make our military strong go hand in hand".
This integration runs deep. Hundreds of Chinese universities receive military funding and conduct defence research. They educate military students and run specialised labs for military applications. Many universities now operate their own Military-Civil Fusion platforms with funding from the Central Military Commission's Equipment Development Department or Science and Technology Commission.
China has built a comprehensive Science and Technology Intelligence (STI) network of about 100,000 workers. These include open-source collectors, analysts, and field operatives who strengthen the nation's military intelligence capabilities. Experts from various fields staff this network, supported by more than a dozen journals and social organisations at national and local levels.
In the last decade, private companies became crucial to this ecosystem. The Insikt Group reports that "More and more private companies, state-owned enterprises, state-run research organisations, and universities are supporting the People's Liberation Army's push to make use of open-source intelligence by providing research services, platforms and data". Small and medium-sized businesses increasingly join MCF by contributing directly to military research projects.
As China’s hidden networks grow more sophisticated, platforms like WireScreen equip global organisations with critical intelligence to uncover China’s corporate affiliations, hidden ownership structures, and strategic influence efforts. This kind of targeted business intelligence is becoming increasingly essential for governments, researchers, and corporations navigating China’s global expansion.
Private Enterprises help government organisations
According to OSINT-News.com, several private OSINT providers have become essential PLA partners in this framework. DataExa (officially Xiamen Yuanting Information Science and Technology Co., Ltd), a 10-year-old company, provides OSINT platforms to the Chinese military. Knowfar (Beijing Nuofang Zhiyuan Information Science and Technology Co., Ltd), founded in 2009, supplies OSINT databases for PLA operations.
Other key players include Lanhai Changqing, a private PLA contractor since 2017 that provides OSINT research services. Techxcope operates as a think tank while supporting military research. Kantian, a private remote sensing company, serves PLA's intelligence needs.
These companies use advanced OSINT methods. They employ automated web crawlers, algorithms, machine learning, and artificial intelligence. This helps them gather intelligence from foreign governments, militaries, social media platforms, news organisations, and research institutions. Such OSINT techniques help China handle challenges in information access and analysis across languages and cultures.
The PLA "almost certainly views OSINT as an increasingly valuable source of military intelligence that can support decision-making." These OSINT research techniques help them learn about foreign military capabilities, facilities, doctrine, decision-making processes, weapons systems, and deployments. This combined civil-military approach creates a robust intelligence system that supports China's military modernisation and global strategic goals.
The PLA's intelligence network now watches foreign military movements and political developments worldwide. China has built an extensive technical intelligence gathering system that tracks U.S. and allied forces in the Indo-Pacific region with unprecedented accuracy.
The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission notes: "China's intelligence collection operations targeting U.S. defence industrial entities and its acquisition of sensitive defence technology could undermine U.S. military superiority by accelerating China's military modernisation and giving China insight into the capabilities and operation of U.S. weapons and weapons systems".
The PLA's exploitation of information asymmetry raises serious concerns. Insikt Group researchers explain, "The PLA's use of OSINT very likely provides it an intelligence advantage, as the West's open information environment allows the PLA to easily harvest large quantities of open-source data, whereas Western militaries must contend with China's closed information environment".
Chinese analysts use sophisticated OSINT methods to gather intelligence from public Western sources. The PLA and China's defence sector employ automated web crawlers, algorithms, machine learning, and AI to analyse data from foreign governments, militaries, social media, news outlets, research organisations, and individual posts.
Jessica Batke, Senior Editor at ChinaFile, shares this insight: "Being too transparent about how you're getting information jeopardises continued access to that information." This careful approach helps China maintain access to vital intelligence sources.
The PLA excels at converting open-source information into useful military intelligence to prepare for potential conflicts with the U.S. and its allies. The PLA uses a unified strategy to overcome language barriers, cultural differences, and technical constraints in accessing certain information sources.
Chinese military strategists now use advanced OSINT tools powered by AI and advanced language processing to systematically mine global open data. The People's Liberation Army (PLA) sees OSINT as a vital intelligence source. China's defence industry actively develops advanced collection, processing, and analysis technologies.
Tracking foreign sentiment through social media and news
Chinese researchers built tools to track sentiment in social media worldwide, especially during crises. Platforms like Weibo (with 511 million active users as of September 2020) created special information sections that drew attention from more than 70 million daily visitors.
These platforms create so much sentiment data that Chinese analysts need sophisticated emotion detection systems to process it all. Chinese sentiment analysis goes beyond simple positive or negative categorization to identify specific emotions like happiness, anger, fear, and sadness.
"The communication we have with people on the ground is increasingly limited, especially in areas like Xinjiang and Tibet where the authorities now detain and imprison people for any connections abroad," notes Maya Wang of Human Rights Watch.
The OSINT challenges China faces remain significant. Western countries keep their information environments relatively open, yet researchers outside China struggle with the country's strict controls. Simple requirements like providing ID for SIM cards evolved to include facial scans, making anonymous research impossible.
Internal OSINT is challenging
China's sophisticated OSINT apparatus operates through a complex web of legal frameworks that create major ethical challenges for researchers. The Chinese government enforces complete real-name registration rules throughout its digital world. Users must give their real identity details to register on platforms that offer news, search engines, instant messaging, live streaming and app downloads. This rule came into effect in 2012 to curb telecom and online fraud by limiting fraudsters' ability to use communication tools.
There remains paradox in China's OSINT research. Too much openness about collection methods could trigger restrictions that block information sources completely. Researchers must handle serious risks. Foreign groups gathering intelligence without proper permits could face criminal charges. One specialist points out, "The Chinese government doesn't distinguish between public and private data. Therefore, all without-permission data collection will be treated as espionage, resulting in severe punishment."
China’s OSINT Strategy Aims to Shape Global Narratives
China's detailed OSINT strategy goes beyond just gathering intelligence. The country actively shapes global narratives and public opinion. Chinese authorities control how the world sees critical issues from Taiwan and human rights to military capabilities and economic policies.
Chinese information warfare uses OSINT techniques to spot, counter and replace Western narratives. This strategy works as both shield and sword. It defends against foreign criticism while promoting viewpoints that align with Beijing's interests.
"China's public security agencies use advanced social media monitoring tools to track discussions about China overseas," explains Mareike Ohlberg, Senior Fellow at the German Marshall Fund. "This allows them to rapidly respond to developing narratives before they gain traction internationally."
China faces unique OSINT challenges in its information warfare operations. The biggest problem is credibility, as Western audiences don't trust Chinese state media sources. Beijing has found a solution through "borrowed boat" tactics. This approach channels Chinese messaging through Western voices that appear independent.
These operations use sophisticated sentiment analysis algorithms that track emotional responses to China-related topics on social platforms. The data helps create targeted counter-messaging campaigns that address specific concerns found through monitoring.
"The communication we have with people on the ground is increasingly limited, especially in areas like Xinjiang and Tibet where the authorities now detain and imprison people for any connections abroad," notes Maya Wang, Senior China Researcher at Human Rights Watch.
This quote clarifies a crucial part of China's information strategy. The authorities limit access to alternative sources while flooding international discourse with carefully crafted narratives. External visibility decreases while Chinese authorities gain more control over how sensitive issues appear globally. OSINT research techniques help shape perception management campaigns with minimal contradiction.
The Future of China's OSINT Enterprise
China's vast OSINT ecosystem gives it a major strategic edge in global intelligence. The PLA has built an integrated civil-military intelligence system that uses advanced AI technologies, sophisticated data mining, and extensive human networks. This all-encompassing approach helps China exploit Western open information while protecting its domestic sphere through strict legal frameworks.
"China possesses an inherent asymmetric advantage in intelligence collection against Western targets," explains Dr. Samantha Hoffman, Senior Analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute. "Unlike Western intelligence agencies constrained by democratic oversight and privacy laws, Chinese collectors operate with fewer restrictions and benefit from a vastly larger human resource pool dedicated to processing open-source information" (Foreign Policy, 2022).
Global security faces profound implications. Western military planners should recognise that traditional operational security falls short because online activity feeds Chinese intelligence collection. The PLA's speed in turning open-source data into useful military intelligence affects strategic calculations, especially for Taiwan and disputed territories in the South China Sea.
Without doubt, future intelligence competition will focus on who best uses emerging technologies like quantum computing, advanced natural language processing, and automated satellite imagery analysis. The strategic advantage belongs to the power that can philtre, analyse, and act on relevant intelligence quickly and at scale. China has showed remarkable progress in this area.
