Chinese Academy of Social Sciences

"CASS" redirects here. For other uses, see CASS (disambiguation).

Chinese Academy of Social Sciences

中国社会科学院
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File:中国社会科学院 西南侧.jpg CASS headquarters
Abbreviation	CASS
Formation	May 7, 1977 (1977-05-07)
Type	Think tank
Headquarters	South Middle Ring Road, Wangjing Area, Chaoyang District
Location	Beijing, China
Coordinates
Party Secretary and President	Gao Xiang
Parent organization	State Council of China
Subsidiaries	China Social Sciences Press
Chinese name
Simplified Chinese	中国社会科学院
Traditional Chinese	中國社會科學院
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Zhōngguó Shèhuì Kēxuéyuàn

The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) is a Chinese state research institute and think tank. It is a ministry-level institution under the State Council of the People's Republic of China. The CASS is the highest academic institution and comprehensive research center for philosophy and social sciences research in China.

The CASS was founded in May 1977. Its predecessor was the Department of Philosophy and Social Sciences of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The main research objects of the Academy of Social Sciences are the language, philosophy, law, economy, religion, ethnicity, archaeology, history and literature of China and other countries in the world. The Academy of Social Sciences is divided into 6 academic departments and 37 research institutes.

History

The predecessor of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences was the Department of Philosophy and Social Sciences of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, established in 1955.

The CASS was established in May 1977 based on splitting the Department of Philosophy and Social Sciences from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, with the aim of promoting the development of philosophy and social sciences, under the instruction of Deng Xiaoping. The first president was Hu Qiaomu.

In 1979, CASS Vice President Huan Xiang led the first Chinese delegation of social scientists to travel to the United States.

Structure

The CASS is a ministry-level institution under the State Council. As of 2012, CASS has over 3,200 resident scholars. As of November 2020, the CASS has 6 university departments, 42 research institutes, 6 functional departments, 5 directly affiliated institutions, and 3 directly affiliated companies. Of its functional departments, five are focused on research.

CASS houses the Graduate School of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, which later became the University of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

The Institute of Taiwan Studies at CASS is under the control of the Fifteenth Bureau of the Ministry of State Security.

The Dictionary Editing Office of the Institute of Linguistics edits Xiandai Hanyu Cidian and the Xinhua Dictionary. The China Social Sciences Press was established in June 1978 under the auspices of the CASS, and has published over 8,000 books since its inception.

The CASS has the following internal structure:

Internal organization

• General Office
• Bureau of Scientific Research Management (General Office of Academic Divisions)
• Personnel Bureau
• Bureau of International Cooperation (Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan Office)
• Administrative Bureau of Finance, Infrastructure Construction and Assets
• Party Committee of the Organization (Office of the Leading Group for Party Group Inspection Work)
• Bureau of Work for Veteran Cadres

Directly affiliated institutions

Directly affiliated research units

Academic Division of Philosophy and Literature

• Institute of Literature
• Institute of Ethnic Literature
• Institute of Foreign Literature
• Institute of Linguistics
• Institute of Philosophy
• Institute of World Religions

Academic Division of History

• Chinese Academy of History (Deputy Ministerial Level)
• Institute of Archaeology (China Archaeological Museum)
• Institute of History (Guo Moruo Memorial Hall, China National Studies Research and Exchange Center)
• Institute of Modern History
• Institute of World History
• Institute of Chinese Borderland Studies
• Institute of Historical Theory
• Institute of Taiwan Studies

Academic Division of Economics

• Institute of Economics
• Institute of Industrial Economics
• Rural Development Institute
• National Academy of Economic Strategy
• Institute of Finance and Banking
• Institute of Quantitative and Technological Economics
• Institute of Population and Labor Economics
• Research Institute for Eco-civilization

Academic Division of Social, Political and Legal Studies

• Institute of Law
• Institute of International Law
• Institute of Political Science
• Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology
• Institute of Sociology
• National Academy of Chinese Modernization
• Institute of Journalism and Communication Studies

Academic Division of International Studies

• Institute of World Economics and Politics
• Institute of Russian, Eastern European and Central Asian Studies
• Institute of European Studies
• Institute of West-Asian and African Studies (China-Africa Institute)
• Institute of Latin American Studies
• National Institute of International Strategy
• Institute of American Studies
• Institute of Japanese Studies
• Institute of Peaceful Development

Academic Division of Marxist Studies

• Academy of Marxism
• Institute of Contemporary China Studies
• Institute of Information Studies
• Chinese Academy of Social Sciences Evaluation Studies

Directly affiliated colleges and universities

• University of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (Graduate School of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences)

Other directly affiliated institutions

• Chinese Academy of Social Sciences Library (Survey and Data Center)
• Social Sciences in China Press
• Chinese Academy of Social Sciences Service
• Center for Cultural Development and Promotion
• Office of Guiding Group for China’s Local Chronicles Compilation (State Local Chronicles Museum, Local Chronicles Publishing House)

Directly affiliated enterprise units

• China Social Sciences Press
• Social Sciences Academic Press
• Chinese Corporation for Promotion of Humanities (China Economic and Technical Consulting Corporation)
• China-run publishing and media group

Activities

Every quarter, CASS hosts a high-level seminar to which it invites officials from other developing countries to discuss topics including governance in China, poverty alleviation, and socio-economic development.

According to Chen Daoyin, a former professor at the Shanghai University of Political Science and Law, CASS "is not so much an academic institution but a body to formulate party ideology to support the leadership." CASS employees periodically submit observations of colleagues' behavior to inspection teams, especially of colleagues who criticize the Chinese Communist Party in private.

List of CCP Committee Secretaries and presidents

English name	Chinese name	Took office	Left office	Ref.
Hu Qiaomu	胡乔木	1977	1982
Ma Hong	马洪	1982	1985
Hu Qiaomu	胡乔木	1985	1988
Hu Sheng	胡绳	1988	1998
Li Tieying	李铁映	March 1998	January 2003
Chen Kuiyuan	陈奎元	January 2003	April 2013
Wang Weiguang	王伟光	April 2013	March 2018
Xie Fuzhan	谢伏瞻	March 2018	May 2022
Shi Taifeng	石泰峰	May 2022	December 2022
Gao Xiang	高翔	December 2022	Incumbent

See also

• Chinese Academy of Sciences
• Graduate School of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences
• Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences
• University of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences