The social science research bodies in China consist of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, local academies of social sciences, institutions of higher learning, affiliated research units of government departments, and research units in the armed forces. According to incomplete statistics, there are some 100,000 persons engaged in such studies.
The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences is the highest academic institution and a comprehensive research center for social sciences in China. The Academy has more than 30 research institutes and a number of research centers. It has a galaxy of experts and scholars specializing in various fields, and some 4,000 research, editing and translation personnel, of whom nearly 200 are supervisors of doctoral candidates. The various departments of the social sciences and the humanities in the institutions of higher learning are important research bases for social sciences in China. They employ more than 60,000 social science and humanities teachers, many of whom do research work in addition to teaching. Besides, there are many special research institutes attached to the institutions of higher learning, employing more than 4,000 professional social science researchers.