Descriptions of documents contained in the microfiche collection of the Declassified Documents Reference System [now online by subscription], which originated primarily in the Central Intelligence Agency, the State Department and various components of the Department of Defense. Other agencies, including the National Security Council, the White House, and the FBI among others, also contributed documents which range in size and scope from telegrams, correspondence, unevaluated field reports to lengthy background studies and detailed minutes of cabinet meetings.

Description of Volume 13. China : "This volume is the first publication in a new subseries of the Foreign Relations series that documents the most important foreign policy issues of the Jimmy Carter presidential administration." From U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian website.