The Institute of International Law of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (hereinafter referred to as the Institute) is a research institution with an independent legal personality under Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS). It is mainly engaged in the research of issues with overall, strategic and forward-looking significance in the field of international law and strives to play the role of a think tank of the Communist Party of China and the Chinese Government in decision-making on major issues of international law. The Institute works under the leadership of the Joint Party Committee of CASS Institute of Law and CASS Institute of International Law and implements the director responsibility system under the leadership of the Joint Party Committee.

	Professor Mo Jihong, Secretary of Joint Party Committee, currently presiding over the work of the Institute
	Professor Liu Huawen, Deputy Director	Professor Wag Ying, Deputy Director	Professor Ding Sai, Deputy Director

I. Historical Development

The Institute has been developed gradually on the basis of the International Law Group established in 1959 under the Institute of Law, the Department of Philosophy and Social Sciences of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. In September 1978, the International Law Group became the International Law Department under CASS Institute of Law. In October, 2002, in order to meet the new requirements of international law research after China's accession to WTO, the CASS Center for International Law Studies was established on the basis of the International Law Department as an institute-level entity under CASS. In September 2009, the Center was renamed the Institute of International Law of CASS. The successive directors of the Institute since its establishment were Chen Zexian, Chen Su and Mo Jihong. Since July 2021, the work of the Institute has been presided over by Professor Chen Guoping, Secretary of the Joint Party Committee of CASS Institute of Law and CASS Institute of International Law.

II. Institutional Setup

The Institute consists of five research departments, namely departments of public international law, private international law, international economic law, international human rights law and national laws, the Editorial Office of Chinese Review of International Law, the Department of Research Coordination and International Cooperation, and three non-entity research centers. In June 2021, the Think Tank for Comprehensive Law-based Governance was established under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences by relying on the academic resources of the CASS Institute of Law and CASS Institute of International Law.

III. Academic Research

Since its establishment, the Institute has carried out extensive and in-depth research in various fields of international law and achieved fruitful results. The Institute undertakes a large number of legislative, judicial argumentation and consulting tasks and actively submits legislative proposals, research reports or legal opinions to the leading organs of the CPC Central Committee and the Central Government, relevant government departments and relevant decision-making bodies.

Guided by Xi Jinping Thought of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics in the New Era, the Institute actively conducts high-quality research on basic theories and applied countermeasures around the construction of the "three major systems" (i.e. disciplinary, academic and discourse systems) of Chinese international law. Since 2002, researchers of the Institute have published dozens of papers in Social Sciences in China, Chinese Journal of Law, China Legal Science and other authoritative law journals in China around the topics of the international rule of law for the community with a shared future for mankind, building the "Belt and Road" rule of law system and the construction of foreign-related rule of law system.

IV. Academic Periodicals

Chinese Review of International Law, sponsored by the Institute, is the earliest academic journal of international law in China and has been selected as "a core journal based on the comprehensive evaluation of journals of humanities and social sciences in China" and a core journal of Chinese Social Science Citation Index (CSSCI) (expanded version).

V. International Exchanges

The Institute has extensive academic exchange and cooperation with legal research institutions in many countries and regions around the world. It has established formal exchange and cooperation relations with world-famous universities and research institutions, holds international academic seminars on a regular or irregular basis, and accepts foreign visiting scholars.

The Institute closely follows the trends of development on the international and domestic academic frontiers and disciplinary development and focuses on building important forums of academic exchange such as China Social Science Forum (International Rule of Law), the Forum on Building a Community with a Shared Future for Mankind and International Rule of Law, and the Belt and Road Forum on the International Rule of Law. Since 2004, it has hosted 17 consecutive International Law Forums.

VI. Talent Training

CASS Institute of International Law and CASS Institute of Law have jointly established a postdoctoral research mobile station and a law school at the University of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences under the mode of "integration of research and education". It provides doctor’s and master's programs in international law and offers a JM program jointly with CASS Institute of Law.

Researchers of the Institute have held important positions in many international organizations such as the United Nations Committee against Torture, the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague, and the Asian Society of International Law, and are the backbone force in the development of international law science in China.