Founded in 1957, the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS) is a national agricultural research institution undertaking China's agricultural research and development in both basic and applied sciences as well as new and advanced application technology. CAAS plays an important role in solving the fundamental and strategic technological issues in agriculture and rural economic development, training advanced researchers, integrating agriculture with science and technology, and developing agricultural science and technology exchanges and cooperation.

CAAS is the largest national agricultural research institution in terms of the numbers of researchers and facilities. It has the most complete set of disciplines and the most comprehensive research and development strength in the country. CAAS provides strong scientific and technical support and a positive academic atmosphere for postgraduate education with its well-developed infrastructure, sophisticated laboratories facilities, state funded key research and development projects, ample research funds, well-qualified supervising teams of senior researchers, and world-wide international cooperation and exchange programs.