The author describes characteristics of social science publications which suggest that in the future there will be an improved research climate for Chinese scholars and improved opportunities for collaborative work between Chinese and foreign researchers. The publications used as the data base for this presentation are quarterly or bimonthly journals published by China's leading universities. The journals contained articles contributed by faculty and graduate students in the fields of philosophy, social sciences, and the humanities. First, all the articles were primarily philosophical in character and political in content. The journals indicated a high level of agreement with current Party orthodoxy and they appeared to have no desire to deviate from accepted norms. It was significant that trends remained constant throughout the period under review and that there was no sign of retrenchment on the importance of investigative work by Chinese scholars. The second basic characteristic was that even in the investigative reports the data base is very thin. In general, the research reports read like lengthier versions of newspaper coverage. Half of the investigative reports were written by students. This opportunity for students to implement field work and present their analysis in a national forum was a noteworthy development and one of the key indicators of continued opportunity for social scientists in China. The third and final characteristic of these articles which supported the author's guarded optimism was their strong advocacy for future use of quantitative methods, and in particular their eagerness to increase the use of statistical analysis. (Author/RM)