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Chinese Academy of Social Sciences

The latest news and top stories on the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. A prominent Beijing-based state research institute and think tank, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) is dedicated to being China’s highest academic institution and comprehensive research centre for philosophy and social sciences. Established in May 1977, its main areas of focus include language, philosophy, law, economics, religion, ethnicity, archaeology, history and literature. CASS is recognised for its extensive research across nearly 300 sub-disciplines and its significant role as a leading think tank in China and Asia.

The team will soon start work in the Caral archaeological zone in Peru’s Supe Valley. Photo: Shutterstock

Science

China sends archaeologists to South America to trace ancestral links

Joint project with Peru will start with field surveys in the Caral zone, which is home to the oldest known urban centre in the Americas.

25 Aug 2026 - 11:57PMvideocam

Science

China team brings X-ray vision to life with a compact high-speed ghost video cam

24 Aug 2026 - 12:00PMvideocam

China-Latin America relations

Chinese archaeologists head to Peru for joint project to explore ancient sites

23 Aug 2026 - 11:00PM

Science

Your backyard could hold a rare earth fortune and this orange lichen is the clue

Chinese scientists discover link between lichen growth and potentially untapped rare-earth-bearing carbonates and mineral deposits.

23 Aug 2026 - 10:00PMvideocam

Lichen on rocks in the West Kunlun Mountains, southwest of China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region. Photo: Li Yang and team

Chinese history

Why Chinese media says US historians are giving ‘ammunition’ to separatists

As ethnic issues grow ever more sensitive, Beijing is alleging the New Qing History movement seeks to fracture the nation.

23 Aug 2026 - 6:00PMvideocam

China’s narrative war

Gaokao reforms could leave Chinese vulnerable to pseudo-history, academic warns

University dean’s cautionary words come as Beijing is increasingly on guard about historical views at odds with the official line.

23 Aug 2026 - 12:00PMvideocam

Science

China builds world’s first custom plant immunity system for epidemic response

Tailored biological tools could enable crops to quickly develop immunity against emerging viruses, bacteria and fungi, researchers say.

23 Aug 2026 - 10:00AMvideocam

Chinese researchers say their programmable synthetic immune receptors can be introduced into plants to help them detect proteins made by specific bacteria, viruses and fungi, triggering an immune response. Photo: Xinhua

South China Sea

China to build monitoring station near disputed Scarborough Shoal

Beijing’s ecological initiatives around the South China Sea flashpoint have been a growing source of tension with Manila and Washington.

20 Aug 2026 - 2:37PMvideocam

Science

How warming in Siberia could shatter Trump’s Arctic ambitions

Sinking terrain and spiking methane threaten ambitious Arctic shipping routes, pipelines and mining projects, Chinese-led study warns.

18 Aug 2026 - 3:12PMvideocam

Science

Chinese sensor feat may help smart watch detect submarine 500 metres deep

Compact chip containing Hall-effect sensor can pick up faint magnetic fields by generating a tiny voltage without increasing noise output.

15 Aug 2026 - 2:51PMvideocam

Chinese scientists have created a Hall‑effect magnetic sensor so sensitive that it could detect a submarine from 500 metres away. Photo: Shutterstock

Japan

What does the first visit to the Kuril Islands by Vladimir Putin mean for China?

Diplomatic offensive seen to signal growing alignment between Beijing and Moscow to isolate Tokyo ahead of key November summit.

14 Aug 2026 - 10:26PMvideocam

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin interacts on August 13 with local residents on Iturup island, one of four islands in the contested chain known as the Kuril Islands. Photo: AFP

China’s internet censorship

China targets pseudo-history conspiracists who claim civilisations were stolen

Zhejiang agency says pseudo-historical claims – made worse by AI – reflect ignorance and fracture social cognition.

14 Aug 2026 - 9:00AMvideocam

Science

Tougher than armour, hard as diamond: China’s unbreakable crystal breakthrough

Scientists use carbon nanotubes to build an internal support structure that overcomes the brittle glasslike nature of diamonds.

11 Aug 2026 - 12:00PMvideocam

China’s Communist Party

How the guest list for Beijing’s summer retreat reveals its tech priorities

Experts in chips, defence and deep-sea drilling gathered as China’s scientific competition with the US intensifies.

10 Aug 2026 - 5:30PMvideocam

Visitors walk past a statue of Mao Zedong in Beidaihe, in northern Hebei province. Chinese leaders have travelled to the seaside town every year since the 1950s. Photo: Simon Song

China technology

China races to develop brain-computer interfaces that can be inserted in minutes

The technology – which allows patients to control digital devices using their thoughts – can be implanted like a stent in just a few minutes.

9 Aug 2026 - 5:50PM

Chinese start-ups are developing brain-computer interfaces that can be implanted via a vein in just 10 minutes. Photo: Shutterstock

Trending in China

Chinese grandma, 111, reveals secret daily ‘workout’ leading to her longevity

With 672 centenarians in her area, researchers suggest that the mineral-rich soil contributes to the health benefits of locally grown crops.

8 Aug 2026 - 9:00AM

Science

At what cost? The Economist draws backlash over ‘eco-authoritarian’ China label

Article dissecting China’s Yangtze River fishing ban, which saw water quality improvement and threatened species recovery, divides readers.

31 Jul 2026 - 7:00PMvideocam

Science

Triassic fish for lunch? Chinese fossil reveals oldest preserved reptile stomach

Specialised features of preserved 240 million-year-old skeleton suggest water-dwelling archosaurs existed earlier than originally thought.

30 Jul 2026 - 4:01PMvideocam

The fossil of the Austronaga minuta allows paleontologists to study how Triassic reptiles evolved from land to sea dwellers. Photo: IVPP/Handout

China-Japan relations

Why did Okinawans visit a Beijing cemetery amid China-Japan tensions?

The trip highlights historical ties between China and the Ryukyu Islands that Beijing is leveraging as a counterweight in its row with Tokyo.

30 Jul 2026 - 11:00AMvideocam

Science

Chinese satellite imagery analysis challenges US-Iran war claims

Researchers identify damage patterns that reveal vulnerabilities in fixed overseas military installations and operational shortcomings.

30 Jul 2026 - 10:31AMvideocam

China trade

Indonesia wants to move beyond raw materials. Will its China ties suffer?

Beijing and Jakarta enjoy unprecedented economic interdependence – but shifting priorities in Indonesia threaten to strain the partnership.

29 Jul 2026 - 10:00AMvideocam

Science

Why use rare earths in rubber production? China is engineering stronger tyres

A new facility leverages decades of research to produce high-strength rubber designed to meet requirements of EVs and heavy-duty transport.

27 Jul 2026 - 10:00PMvideocam

The synthetic rubber production plant draws on more than 60 years of research into rare earth catalytic synthesis of butadiene rubber. Photo: qq.com

Hong Kong economy

How Xinjiang offers Hong Kong a bridge to Central Asia — and what the risks are

Xinjiang’s transport links and proximity to Central Asia can help Hong Kong expand in region, but Western sanctions create hurdles, analysts say.

26 Jul 2026 - 2:58PM

Science

Long before the Silk Road, silkworm cocoons already existed in Uzbekistan

Some 4,000 years ago, ancient people brought the production technique for the precious luxury from China to Central Asia via India.

25 Jul 2026 - 10:00AM

Science

Fields Medallists lead new wave of young Chinese scientists in global research

Wang Hong and Deng Yu’s historic Fields Medal win illustrates China’s decades-long investment in scientific talent pipeline, say advocates.

24 Jul 2026 - 10:17PMvideocam

Deng Yu (far left) and Wang Hong (far right) were awarded the Fields Medals on Thursday, marking the first time Chinese mathematicians have won the honour. The other recipients for 2026 are American John Pardon (second left) and Canada’s Jacob Tsimerman. Photo: Xinhua

US-China relations

Pentagon expands blacklist to include China’s top civilian universities

Fudan and Shanghai Jiao Tong join Defence Department research blacklist, extending US restrictions beyond military-linked institutions.

24 Jul 2026 - 11:30PMvideocam

The expanded list bars Pentagon-funded researchers from collaborating with listed institutions or using their equipment under new rules. Photo: Handout

China trade

China, Russia plan fifth rail link to keep trade chugging along in harsh winters

Heilongjiang province is studying feasibility of connecting Heihe city with Blagoveshchensk in Russia by train, aiming to remove road and waterway bottlenecks.

21 Jul 2026 - 6:30PMvideocam

China's economic recovery

Shanghai beats GDP estimates with 5.6% growth – but two-speed recovery persists

Official data points to a resilient tech-led rebound even as prominent economists warn household spending remains stubbornly cautious.

21 Jul 2026 - 9:00AM

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