Purpose: The purpose of this paper to describe the research work on the long-term preservation of Chinese digital information funded by National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) since 2001. Design/methodology/approach: The paper provides an overview, in text and figures, of ways in which e-documents originating in China, in now obsolete formats, can be made readable again. Also, results of a recent survey of electronic records management in government and corporations are given. Findings: The lifecycle management gap with respect to electronic records is highlighted and the main factors that restrict the Chinese anti-disaster data backup plan are analysed. It is suggested that the data backup centre which can be accepted by small medium enterprises should be the e-government disaster recovery centre for local government. Originality/value: All the research results are useful for those who need to understand the long-term preservation of Chinese digital information and electronic records management.