Chinese Academy of Sciences
The Chinese Academy of Sciences (中國科學院) is China’s national academy for natural sciences and the government’s highest scientific consultancy body. Founded with historical origins in the Republican-era Academia Sinica, CAS operates as “the world’s largest research organization” with 106 research institutes, two universities, and over 150,000 employees and students. The academy describes itself as “the linchpin of China’s drive to explore and harness high technology and the natural sciences for the benefit of China and the world,” though it functions primarily as a state-directed scientific apparatus advancing government priorities. CAS played crucial roles in China’s nuclear weapons program and computing development, while today co-organizing major government initiatives like the World Artificial Intelligence Conference alongside multiple Chinese ministries.
