East is Read is rated Least biased with High factual reporting by Media Bias Fact Check.
LEAST BIASED
These sources have minimal bias and use very few loaded words (wording that attempts to influence an audience by appeals to emotion or stereotypes). The reporting is factual and usually sourced. These are the most credible media sources. See all Least Biased Sources.
- Overall, we rate The East Is Read Least Biased based on its presentation of a broad range of Chinese academic and policy perspectives, including meaningful criticism of Chinese institutions and government policies. We rate it High for factual reporting due to accurate sourcing and translations, a clean fact-check record, and improved transparency, with minor deductions because its source pool remains primarily Chinese mainland publications operating within a highly restricted media environment.
Detailed Report
Bias Rating: LEAST BIASED (-1.4)
Factual Reporting: HIGH (1.3)
Country: China
MBFC’s Country Freedom Rating: TOTAL OPPRESSION
Media Type: Website
Traffic/Popularity: Medium Traffic
MBFC Credibility Rating: HIGH CREDIBILITY
History
The East Is Read is a China-focused translation and analysis newsletter founded and edited by Zichen Wang, with Yuxuan Jia serving as associate editor. According to its About page, it locates, summarizes, contextualizes, and translates Chinese-language articles, speeches, policy documents, and academic work.
Wang previously worked for Xinhua News Agency for 11 years before joining the Beijing-based Center for China and Globalization (CCG) in 2022. Wang and Jia are full-time CCG employees, and The East Is Read is one of several newsletters they operate through their work at the organization.
Read our profile on the Chinese Government and Media.
Funded by / Ownership
The East Is Read is hosted at CCG, although Wang states that the Substack account itself is personally registered and that there is no dedicated CCG budget specifically for the newsletter. Both editors are salaried CCG employees.
Contrary to our previous review, The East Is Read does not offer paid subscriptions and receives no subscription revenue. Substack lists its audience as free subscribers.
CCG describes itself as a non-governmental think tank and is registered as a 4A non-governmental organization in Beijing. Its website states that its operations are supported by the Dongwoo Globalization Think Tank Foundation and also solicits individual and corporate support. CCG provides some funding information but does not publish a comprehensive donor-by-donor financial disclosure.
Analysis / Bias
The East Is Read primarily translates and contextualizes material already published inside China. Most articles retain the arguments and viewpoints of their original authors, while the editors provide introductions and explanatory context.
Our previous review overstated the extent to which the newsletter selects only establishment-friendly material. While official, academic, and government-linked voices remain prominent, the publication also regularly translates criticism of Chinese institutions and policies.
For example, Reading China Through Its Most Courageous Reporting highlights independent Chinese journalism investigating domestic violence, pollution, rural pensions, criminal justice abuses, and police torture.
In PhD Dropout’s Exposé Forces an Academic Fraud Reckoning in China, the newsletter examines academic misconduct and argues that China’s bureaucratic evaluation system has rewarded publication volume, titles, and government grants at the expense of originality.
Likewise, Wang Xiaolu’s Alternative Tally of Who Gets China’s National Income presents an economist’s argument that conventional statistics underestimate the government’s growing share of national resources and the effects of debt, land revenues, and monetary expansion.
Former Chinese Senior Economic Official Urges Broader Opening of Services Sector highlights calls for greater foreign access to telecommunications, education, health care, and finance.
Other articles do amplify perspectives favorable to China or critical of the United States, including Chinese arguments regarding U.S. military activity, trade policy, and China’s technological development. However, these are generally clearly attributed to the original authors rather than presented as independent reporting by The East Is Read.
Overall, the newsletter’s strongest bias is toward presenting debates occurring within China’s academic and policy establishment rather than toward a conventional Western left-right ideology. Because it publishes both establishment arguments and substantive criticism of Chinese policy, a Least Biased rating better reflects the current publication.
Failed Fact Checks
- None to date
Overall, we rate The East Is Read Least Biased based on its presentation of a broad range of Chinese academic and policy perspectives, including meaningful criticism of Chinese institutions and government policies. We rate it High for factual reporting due to accurate sourcing and translations, a clean fact-check record, and improved transparency, with minor deductions because its source pool remains primarily Chinese mainland publications operating within a highly restricted media environment. (D. Van Zandt 12/09/2025) Updated (08/07/2026)
Source: https://www.eastisread.com/
Last Updated on August 7, 2026 by Media Bias Fact Check
MBFC relies entirely on readers like you.
No corporate or political donors. Your support keeps our 11,000+ ratings 100% independent.
- Remove all ads instantly
- Support independent ratings
- Cancel any time — no strings
Left vs. Right Bias: How we rate the bias of media sources