China
China's constitution states that The People's Republic of China "is a socialist state under the people's democratic dictatorship led by the working class and based on the alliance of workers and peasants," and that the state organs "apply the principle of democratic centralism." The PRC is one of the world's only socialist states openly endorsing communism (see Ideology of the Communist Party of China). The Chinese government has been variously described as communist and socialist, but also as authoritarian and corporatist, with heavy restrictions in many areas, most notably against free access to the Internet, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, the right to have children, free formation of social organizations and freedom of religion. Its current political, ideological and economic system has been termed by its leaders as the "people's democratic dictatorship", "socialism with Chinese characteristics" (which is Marxism adapted to Chinese circumstances) and the "socialist market economy" respectively.
Sociology in China
Sociology became a subject of academic interest in China in 1920s, and in 1947 sociologist Fei Xiaotong published a book, "From the Soil", that sought to establish a framework for detailing Chinese society and its moral and ethics. A few years later, in 1949, the Communist party established control of Mainland China, and by 1952 sociology was banned by communist authorities as a bourgeois pseudoscience, similar to what happened in other communist countries (see for example history of sociology in the Soviet Union or sociology in People's Republic of Poland). Existing sociologists were discriminated against during the Cultural Revolution and their works restricted. In 1979, Chinese communist leader Deng Xiaoping noted the need for more studies of the Chinese society and supported the reestablishment of the discipline. That year, in March, Chinese Sociological Association (CSA) was reestablished. Since then, sociology has been widely accepted as a useful tool for the state, and sociology graduates have often been employed in government institutions. Reestablishment of the field was also aided by the growing cooperation between Chinese and American sociologists.