Internal Reference (), abbreviated as neican (), is a series of internal reports with limited circulation prepared for Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and government officials in the People's Republic of China.
In the internal reference system of Xinhua News Agency, the internal reference reports are divided into four levels. The highest level is the Domestic Dynamics Proof Attachment (ãÂÂå½å å¨æÂÂ渠样éÂÂ页ãÂÂ), which is specifically provided for members of the CCP Politburo Standing Committee and relevant officials, usually reflecting highly significant and urgent situations. The second level includes the Domestic Dynamics Proof (ãÂÂå½å å¨æÂÂ渠样ãÂÂ) and the international-news Reference Proof (ãÂÂÃ¥ÂÂèÂÂ渠样ãÂÂ), which are provided to provincial- and ministerial-level leaders and their deputies, mainly covering important developments, sensitive issues, and key recommendations. Additionally, the third-level Internal Reference (ãÂÂå é¨åÂÂèÂÂãÂÂ) is directed at prefectural and departmental levels, with a lower sensitivity level than the Domestic Dynamics Proof. The fourth level (lowest tier) is the Internal Reference Selection (ãÂÂå åÂÂéÂÂç¼ÂãÂÂ), which compiles less sensitive content from the Internal Reference and the Domestic Dynamics Proof; issued weekly, it is distributed to county- and regiment-level grassroots cadres for internal reading and discussion, although it still allows more leeway than publicly available materials.
In addition to Xinhua News Agency, other state-run media outlets also publish internal publications in various formats. These include the Compilation of Public Letters (ãÂÂ群ä¼Âæ¥信æÂÂç¼ÂãÂÂ), the Situation Compilation (ãÂÂæ åµæ±Âç¼ÂãÂÂ), and the Special Issue of the Situation Compilation (ãÂÂæ åµæ±Âç¼Âç¹åÂÂãÂÂ) by the People's Daily; the Situation Report (ãÂÂæ åµåÂÂæ ãÂÂ) by the Guangming Daily; the Compilation of Youth Letters (ãÂÂéÂÂå¹´æ¥信æÂÂç¼ÂãÂÂ) by the China Youth Daily; and the Situation Briefing (ãÂÂæ åµç®ÂæÂ¥ãÂÂ) by the Shanghai Jiefang Daily, among others.
According to the media regulation in China, certain matters that media outlets believe would harm the image of the Chinese government, threaten social stability and unity, or other matters not suitable for open publication, such as certain events of corruption, social unrest, and large-scale business swindles, should be reported internally rather than publicly. The neican serves to keep CCP leaders informed about the issues that are seen as too sensitive be reported and discussed in the public publications. Thus, the internal reference is supposed to offer more realistic and less censored version of events. They are often similar in form to investigative reporting, and are prepared by the journalists working for the official media such as Xinhua News Agency and the People's Daily. As such, certain information collected by the Chinese media is published in the internal reference, not in the public publications. Some government think tanks also produce neican.
The popularity of neican has been on the rise in recent years, with some estimates suggesting a several-fold increase in the last decade from 2000.
Since CCP general secretary Xi Jinping has consolidated power, neican have been subject to censorship previously applied only to media for the general public.
Neican have been criticized for being slow and inefficient. Often, they focus on information already available in the Internet, but not in the Chinese traditional printed mainstream media, which is both censored by the government, and in which self-censorship of sensitive items is present. They are also seen as biased (produced by CCP members for other party members), often saying what the writers expect the superiors want to hear, and downplaying or omitting unpleasant news. Criticism of Xi Jinping's policies is avoided in neican. As Hu Xingdou, a professor of social science at the Beijing Institute of Technology, notes: "[...] there are some issues that even neican won't touch", for example, military affairs and high-level corruption.
Some lower-level neican by lower-level non-popular media turn into profit centers for their publishers, which try to increase their subscription base. Sometimes, the term neican is used to refer to restricted literature (books available only to individuals with certain clearances). Some have stated that the neican system "blurs the line between journalism and intelligence gathering."