About the CAS Directory

Purpose

The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) is one of the largest scientific institutions in China and indeed in the world. With more than 100 research institutes, two universities and a vast network of laboratories, subsidiaries and spinouts, it dominates China’s research enterprise. CAS employs some 73,000 staff and trains more than 108,000 students. Its researchers produce more papers than any other institution globally, and their work is the most cited. CAS is not merely China’s scientific crown jewel. It is one of the world’s most formidable engines of research, a colossus too important to ignore in today’s scientific landscape.

But CAS’s history is also deeply entwined with the modernisation of the Chinese military. Many early CAS institutes were established in bastions of China’s defence industry, some once managed by the People’s Liberation Army, and its scientists played formative roles in developing the nation’s first nuclear weapons, ballistic missiles and satellite programmes.

Today, after decades of restructuring, those links have become increasingly complex and opaque. The Academy presents itself as a civilian institution focused on advancing frontier science. Yet the boundary between civilian and military research is increasingly blurred under China’s military–civil fusion strategy, which encourages civilian innovation to serve defence goals.

This situation poses challenges for foreign governments, research institutions and companies seeking to collaborate responsibly with CAS. Without clear information, partners risk either avoiding valuable cooperation on shared scientific interests or inadvertently contributing to China’s defence capabilities.

To help close this gap, RAND Europe has developed the CAS Directory – a public, evidence‑based resource profiling 50 CAS research units. It assesses each institute’s potential involvement in developing and maintaining Chinese defence capabilities across six indicators, offering a practical tool for due diligence and export‑control decisions. The aim is to help partners get to ‘yes’ in research collaboration.

Guiding Principles

Five key principles shape the CAS Directory:

  1. Getting to 'yes': The goal of the directory is not to block collaboration, but to help users find safe and practical ways to work with trusted Chinese organisations. The directory applies a high threshold for identifying links to defence activities and focuses on clear, verifiable evidence rather than every possible dual‑use connection.
  2. Know your partner: The directory is designed to help users understand who they are working with, not to make decisions for them. Each organisation has its own risk appetite, safeguards and thresholds for collaboration. Rather than assigning risk levels, the directory shows how closely a CAS institute is connected to China’s defence science and technology ecosystem. These categories highlight patterns of involvement that can help users assess partners and prioritise further checks, based on their own context and level of exposure.
  3. Trust but verify: Research security is a collective effort. While the directory draws on reliable, verifiable sources, users should carry out their own due diligence. Where data gaps exist, we have flagged areas for further review to support informed decision making.
  4. Transparency: The directory is designed for open use. Users can trace each finding back to its original source to make and explain their partnership decisions. For this reason, the directory avoids information accessible only inside China, though this means some potential indicators of defence participation are not included.
  5. Inform, not prescribe: The directory is intended as a tool for due diligence and does not replace official advice or guidance provided by your government. Users should continue to consult relevant national authorities for support.

Acknowledgments

This research was funded by the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) through its Counter Proliferation Programme (FY25/26).

Contact

We welcome your feedback on the CAS Directory. If you notice an error, have suggestions for improvement or would like to share how you have used the resource, please get in touch. While the directory is not actively maintained, your feedback helps us understand how the guide supports the research community and identify priorities for any future updates should new funding become available.

You can reach us at: CASDirectory@randeurope.org

Version Control

The information in the CAS Directory was collected and analysed by RAND Europe between October 2025 and January 2026. The information presented reflects the data and analysis available to researchers during this period.

At present, there are no plans to update the directory. Updates will only take place if future funding becomes available to continue this research. Users are advised that the resource should therefore be treated as a snapshot in time, representing the findings and evidence base as of early 2026.

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