1. Fact Sheet

Founding: Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) was founded in Beijing on 1st November 1949 on the basis of the former Academia Sinica (Central Academy of Sciences) and Peiping Academy of Sciences.

Status: CAS is a leading academic institution and comprehensive research and development center in natural science, technological science and high-tech innovation in China.
President: Prof. Dr-Ing Lu Yongxiang

Orgainzation: Under CAS there are five Academic Divisions,108 scientific research institutes, over 200 science and technology enterprises,and more than 20 supporting units including one university, one graduate school and five documentation and information centers. They are distributed over various parts of the country. 12 branches of CAS were established in Shanghai, Nanjing, Hefei, Changchun, Shenyang, Wuhan, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Kunming, Xi'an, Lanzhou and Xinjiang.

Staff: CAS has a total staff of over 58,000, of whom 39,000 are scientific personnel according to 2000 figures.

Women Employees: According to 2000 statistics, the academy has more than 20,000 women employees, accounting for about 34% of the total, including more than 500 women research professors, making up 11.6% of the total,and 3,243 women associate research professors, or 28% of the total.

2. Mission  Statement:

Mission:  To conduct research in basic and technological sciences; to undertake nationwide integrated surveys on natural resources and ecological environment; to provide the country with scientific data and advice for governmental decision-making, and to undertake government-assigned projects with regard to key S&T problems in the process of social and economic development; to initiate personnel training; and to promote China's high-tech enterprises by its active involvement in these areas.

Vision: CAS strives to build itself into a scientific research base at advanced international level, a base for fostering and bringing up advanced S&T talents, and a base for promoting the development of China's high and new technology industries. By 2010, CAS will have 80 national institutes noted for their powerful capacities in S&T innovation and sustainable development or with distinctive features; thirty of them will become internationally acknowledged, high-level research institutions, and three to five will be world class.

Guideline for Running CAS: Catering to the national strategic demands and aiming at the world science frontiers, efforts will be made to promote original innovation in scientific research and the innovation and integration of key technologies, so as to scale the heights of world science and technology, and make fundamental, strategic and forward-looking contributions to China's economic reconstruction, national security and sustainable development.

Values: Science, democracy, patriotism and contribution

Motto: Realistic approach, truth-seeking attitude, collaborative work and creative spirit

3.Ex-presidents of CAS

(1)Guo Moruo (1892 -- 1978)

Guo Moruo, a historian and archeologist, was the founding president of CAS. A native of Leshan City, Sichuan Province. In his early years, he studied in Japan. Afterwards, he gave up medicine and took liberal arts. In 1921, he published his first collection of poetry, Goddess. After 1924, he accepted Marxism, and advocated revolutionary literature. In 1927, he took part in the Nanchang Uprising, and joined the Communist Party of China. The next year, he went into exile to Japan, engaged in the research into ancient Chinese history and ancient characters, and wrote Research into Ancient Chinese Society, General Compilation of Oracle Inscriptions, and other academic monographs. In 1930, he joined the "Union of Left-Wing Writers". In the Anti-Japanese War, in the Kuomintang-ruled area, he was engaged in the anti-Japanese and national salvation movement, and was appointed Director of the Third Bureau of the Political Department of the Military Committee of the National Government. During that time he wrote The Bronze Times and Book on Ten Critiques. In 1948, he was elected Academician of Academia Sinica. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, he was appointed Vice Premier of the Government Administration Council (of the Central People's Government of the People's Republic of China, replaced in 1954 by the State Council) and concurrent Director of the State Culture and Education Commission.

(2)Fang Yi (1916 -- 1997)

Fang Yi was CAS president from 1978 to 1981.A native of Xiamen (Amoy) City, Fujian Province. In 1930, he joined the Communist Youth League of China, and in 1931 he became a member of the Communist Party of China. He was engaged in underground revolutionary work and armed struggle in south part of Fujian Province. Afterwards, he led anti-Japanese activities in Hubei and Anhui provinces, and other places. During the War of Liberation, he was mainly engaged in financial and economic work in east China. From 1949 to 1952, he was Deputy Governor of the Fujian Provincial Government. In 1952, he was appointed Vice Mayor of Shanghai Municipality, in charge of finance, the economy and comprehensive planning. In 1953, he was appointed Vice Minister of Finance. From 1954 to 1961, he was dispatched to Viet Nam to help the Vietnamese government in post-war reconstruction and economic development. In 1961, he was appointed Vice Minister of the State Planning Commission of the People's Republic of China, and concurrently Director of the General Bureau of Foreign Economy Liaison. From June 1970 to January 1977, Fang Yi was Minister of Foreign Economy Liaison, and Secretary of the Party Leading Group.

(3) Lu Jiaxi (1915 --2001 )

Lu Jiaxi, a chemist, was CAS president from 1981 to 1987. Born in Xiamen (Amoy) City, Fujian Province. In 1934, he graduated from the Department of Chemistry, Xiamen University. In 1939, he obtained his doctorate at London University. Afterwards, he engaged in research work in the Department of Chemistry, California Institute of Technology, and obtained excellent results in combustion and explosion research. He returned to China in 1945, and successively held the posts of Professor of the Department of Chemistry, Xiamen University, President of the Institute of Science of the University and Assistant to the Chancellor of the University, then Vice Chancellor of Fuzhou University and Director of the Fujian Institute of Matter Structure of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. From 1937, he published a series of research papers on radiation chemistry and structural chemistry. After the 1960s, Lu Jiaxi did creative and pioneering work in the structural chemistry of transitional metal atomic clusters and the chemical simulation of nitrogen fixation by organisms. He joined the Chinese Peasants and Workers Democratic Party in 1952, and then the Chinese Communist Party in 1956.

(4)Zhou Guangzhao (1929 - )

Zhou Guangzhao, a theoretical physicist, was CAS president from 1987 to 1997. A native of Changsha city, Hunan Province. He graduated from the Department of Physics, Tsinghua University in 1951, and as a postgraduate majoring in theoretical theory at Peking University in 1954. From 1957 to 1960, he was a middle-ranking research fellow at a Dubna Institute of Nuclear Research, Moscow in , former Soviet Union. In 1961, he returned to China. In August of 1979, he took up the post of Research Fellow at the Institute of Theoretical Physics of CAS, and from 1982 he was Deputy Director and then Director of the institute. He described the helical state amplitude of particles for the first time in the world in 1958, and developed its corresponding mathematical method. He was a leader in research in such areas as explosion physics, radiant flux mechanics, high-temperature and high-pressure physics, and computational mechanics. He made contributions to the theoretical design of China's first atomic bomb and first hydrogen bomb. He was elected Member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 1980.

4.Research Highlights

Basic Research

Basic research has always been one of the major tasks of CAS. Over the more than 50 years since its founding, CAS has gradually branched out to cover many fundamental fields of the natural sciences, such as mathematics, physics, chemistry, mechanics, astronomy, space science, life science, geoscience and environmental science - with nearly 10,000 research professionals and 117 open laboratories (including 50 key State laboratories). At present, there are 29 research institutes (including observatories) covering such fields as physical science, mathematics, mechanics and astronomy; with 31 open laboratories (nine key State laboratories, four State laboratories and 18 CAS open laboratories). Since the beginning of the Sixth Five-Year Plan (1981-1985), with the approval of the Central Government, CAS has established various mega-science facilities, including the Beijing Electron-Positron Collider, the Lanzhou Heavy Ion Accelerator, the Hefei Synchrotron Radiation Accelerator, Tokamak and Laser Fusion Device, the 2.16m Optical Astronomical Telescope at the National Astronomical Observatories (in Beijing), the Beijing Solar Magnetic Field Telescope and the Long-wave Chronometer at the Shaanxi Observatory. In the near future, CAS will launch the construction of a third-generation synchrotron radiation facility in Shanghai.

     The CAS contingent of basic research professionals, which is noted for its high level of scholarship and equipped with advanced research facilities, is working hard to achieve the national objectives, meet the socio-economic demands, and scale the heights of world science and technology. The research achievements scored by CAS scientists in basic research include mechanical proofs of mathematical theorems, symplectic geometric algorithms for Hamiltonian systems, precise measurements of tau-lepton masses, the synthesis of new nuclides, supernova observation, high-temperature superconductors, the preparation and application of carbon nano-tube arrays, the synthesis of nonlinear optical crystals, and the unraveling of the structures and properties of atomic clusters in transition metals and metallorganic chemicals. In addition, it has made significant contributions to research and development as well as to the strategic buildup of science and technology capacities in such fields as information science, energy sources, mineral resources, medicine, space science and national defense.

     To cope with the new era of economic globalization, CAS is implementing the Knowledge Innovation Program (KIP), advocated by Chinese President Jiang Zemin. With the objective of building the Academy into a research center at the world's most advanced level, the KIP is an incubator for high-level scientists and for promoting the development of high-tech industry. Meticulous efforts in the initial phase of the KIP have been devoted to the construction of several innovative centers, such as the Beijing Physical Science Center, the Academy of Mathematics and System Sciences, the National Astronomical Observatory and the Research Center for Theoretical Physics. At present, CAS is applying itself to scaling the heights of world science and technology, and making fundamental, strategic and forward-looking contributions to China's economic reconstruction and sustainable development.

Life Science and Biotechnology

   In the field of life science and biotechnology, about 6,000 CAS research professionals are now attached to 24 research institutes, 13 research centers, 26 key State laboratories and key CAS laboratories, 12 botanical gardens, 18 specimen museums, and nine repositories for type culture collection, as well as a dozen field observation and experimental stations for ecological studies.

     There are six institutes in Beijing mainly focusing on hi-tech research in agricultural and environmental biology, five institutes in Shanghai (the Shanghai Institutes for Biological Science, mainly focusing on biomedical sciences related to human health), four institutes in Southwest China for studies of bio-resources and bio-diversity conservation, three institutes in Hubei Province for studies of aquatic biology and virology, and two institutes in Qinghai and Guangdong Provinces for studies of plateau biology and botany, respectively.

     The aims of CAS' life science and biotechnology endeavors are to support the key potential in agriculture, the environment and human health. Research fields include molecular biology, cell biology, neuroscience, development biology, genetics, genomics, proteomics, virology, bioinformatics, psychology, ecology, biosystematics, phytochemistry, biodiversity and agrobiology.

     Major achievements scored by CAS biologists include the syntheses of bovine insulin and yeast alanine transfer ribonucleic acid for the first time in the world, the physical mapping of the rice (Oryza japonica) genome, the draft sequence of the rice (O. indica) genome and the decoding of rice chromosome 4 (both O. japonica and O. indica). CAS scientists have also completed China's assignment for the genome-sequencing task allocated by the HGP consortium.

    In addition, CAS scientists have made significant accomplishments in the fields of taxonomy, evolutionary biology, biodiversity, agrobiology and environmental biology, including the compilation of the 255-volume corpus of Flora Sinica, Fauna Sinica and Cryptogamica Sinica, and have set up a complete taxonomic system for Chinese pteridophytes. Research in such areas as locust and grasshopper ecology and integrated management, the ecological effects of invasive alien species, restoration ecology, sustainable use of bioresources, integrated pest management, croup breeding and designing, key marine aquaculture technologies (southward transplant of kelp, scallop implant and all-course artificial breeding of Chinese prawns), the establishment of a breeding system for inter-species hybridization in Gosspium, making substantial contributions to agricultural development and environmental conservation in China.

    CAS was the first organization in the country to carry out such biotechnology research as that relating to monoclonal antibodies, transgenic animals and plants, somatic cell cloning, and stem cell and protein engineering, and has made important research and development findings, including the technology of microbial fermentation for producing Vitamin C, the improvement and industrial application of enzyme activity of Ast. Niger glucoamylase, the development of recombite DNA vaccine of Hepatitis-B, and the super-high expression of human interferon in genetic engineering transgenic fish and somatic cell cloned cows. Moreover, more than 50 new drugs have been developed. Succimer (dimercaptosuccinic acid), one of the best antidotes to heavy metal poisoning, is the first drug developed in China and produced by U.S. pharmaceutical firms with the approval of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Artemether, an anti-malaria medicine, is the only drug initiated by China for export, and was listed in the world pharmacopoeia in 1995. Meanwhile, the annual revenue from the new cardiovascular drug Di'ao Xinxuekang has reached 1.4 billion yuan.

Science and Technology for Resources and the Environment

   CAS has always attached strategic importance to comprehensive research into the protection and improvement of the environment for human survival and the coordinated relationship between man and nature. Since these studies concern such fields as geoscience, ecology, agriculture, forestry and environmental sciences, more than 30 CAS institutes are engaged in this field. In addition, CAS has set up more than 80 field observation and experiment stations in various geographic regions to study resources, the environment and ecosystems, and initially established China's Ecosystem Research Network (CERN). By using space and aerial remote sensing technologies, a monitoring and research system covering various spatial and temporal scales consisting of space observations and ground observations for resources and the environment has been basically formed. A multi-level and multi-purpose information system on resources and the environment is under construction. So far, a comprehensive research system has evolved, with multi-disciplinary teamwork, bringing natural resources, the ecology, the environment, space and remote sensing technologies, and macro-agriculture together.

     Over the past decades, CAS has organized a series of comprehensive scientific expeditions and experimental research surveys both on land and at sea through extensive cooperation with domestic and foreign institutions. Together with a number of scholars well known both at home and abroad, thousands of scientists and technicians have been doing their utmost to tackle a series of difficult problems urgently requiring solutions concerning social and economic development, and in the exploration of frontier areas of contemporary science. They have made achievements of international standard, such as the theory of terrestrial facies origin of oil, geochemistry of strata-bound ore deposits, atmospheric circulation in East Asia, comprehensive study of the uplift of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and its effects on the environment and human activities, principles and measures for the fixation of mobile sand dunes in northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, comprehensive regional planning for agriculture, bio-diversity conservation and its sustainable utilization, and research on the degradation and restoration of the ecosystem.

Hi-tech Research and Development

   CAS has made great contributions to the country in this field. For example, it developed the first electronic computer, the first vector computer and the first parallel computer system, as well as the first laser devices and first space remote-sensing equipment in the country. CAS researchers have provided various semiconductor materials, crystal materials, high-performance alloys, special ceramic materials, new polymer materials and many new functional and structural materials for frontier science and technology applications. They invented a new technology for the converter steel making process, new synthetic rubber, new technology for the extraction of rare earth elements, a new process for gas conversion, industrial robots and numeric control systems, which have made significant contributions to industry. Recently, CAS has undertaken many important national projects. In the areas of high-tech research and development, for instance, the major current projects cover fuel cell batteries and an electric automobile system, coal conversion to fuel oil through synthetic gas, general purpose CPU and SOC, core software for Internet applications, image, voice and language recognition, information security technology, micro-system technology, nano-materials and application, integrated coal system for electricity generation with a chemical process and infrared remote sensing equipment for meteorological satellites.

    As a national research center, the tasks of CAS in high-technology R&D are to engage in basic, strategic and forward-looking research concerning China's economic construction, national security and sustainable social development; undertake key national research projects and provide solutions to important pressing problems; and continually promote high-technology development by upgrading China's own capability for high-tech innovation.

     In recent years, CAS has further made it clear that research should focus on the frontiers of science and technology while meeting the strategic needs of the country. Original scientific invention and pivotal technology innovation should be further stressed. On the one hand, CAS is strengthening its fundamental research in frontier areas of high-technology, in order to further develop the capacity of innovation of its institutes. On the other hand, it is paying great attention to transforming its researchfindings into practical applications. CAS is making great efforts to promote the cooperation between its institutes and industry, and to establish engineering R&D centers which focus on technology transfer and application. Furthermore, CAS encourages its researchers and institutes to set up spin-off high-tech firms for the direct commercial application of high technology.

5. Contact

Chinese Academy of Sciences
Add: 52 Sanlihe Rd., Beijing China
Postcode: 100864
Tel: 86 10 68597289
Fax: 86 10 68512458
Website:   www.cas.ac.cn