China Institute for Reform and Development (CIRD)，established on 1 November 1991, is a public and non-profit research institution mainly specializing in reform and development policy research.

CIRD, with the mission of facilitating China's economic reform and development policy decision-making, follows the guideline of "basing its research activities in Hainan, facing the whole country and marching towards the other parts of the world".

CIRD practices a system of vesting the full responsibility with the president under the leadership of the board of directors and adheres to the operating mechanism characterized with small organization with a large network. Its organizational features of being network-based, international operations and independent research have attracted wide attention.

A Think-tank for Reform Policy Decision-making

With submission of reform policy recommendation reports to the government as its bounden duty, CIRD has been conducting forward-looking and independent research in important theoretical and practical issues in economic transition. It has organized research activities around important, difficult and hot reform topics such as "transformation of the government", "construction of public service systems ", "macroeconomic reforms ", "state-owned enterprise reforms ", "financial system reforms ", "rural reforms ", "social security system reforms " and "income distribution system reforms "; and have produced a long list of research results. In the past 19 years, it has submitted more 130 sets of reform policy/legislation recommendation reports to relevant departments of the central government. It is the first research institution to have submitted reform policy recommendations on "granting long-term and guaranteed land use rights for farmers", "equalizing access to basic public services", "construction of public service-oriented government" and "speeding up the establishment of a socialist public service system", of which some have been directly adopted into policy documents while many others have been used as references for drafting policy documents, laws and regulations. For these research results, CIRD has won many national and ministerial/provincial awards including "Five One Project Award" (Wu ge yi gong cheng), "Economics Research Awards by Sun Yefang Economics Foundation", and "China Development Research Awards".

CIRD's fruitful research achievements have attracted wide attention from both home and abroad. The "People's Daily" has carried an article titled "Facing the New Century" and the Guangming Daily has carried an article titled "CIRD's Unique Performance" to comment that "CIRD has exerted wide influence in the economic circle both at home and abroad". The "Xinhua News Agency Outlook Weekly" has carried an article titled "CIRD's Experiment with Independent Operations under the Supervision by the Government" to comment that "CIRD, with only 50 people and located in the remote island of Hainan, has been pursuing a research organizing mechanism characterized with "government background, non-governmental organization, institutional legal person and being managed like an enterprise; and has become the first independent think-tank among all the provincial social academies in China". "In short, CIRD's development model has become an interesting 'CIRD phenomenon' in the academic circle of the whole country, with many of its important experiments with the development of China's think-tanks". The CPPCC Newspaper has carried an article commenting that "CIRD, an academic organization located in a remote corner of the country, has the whole world in view and has become an academic institute with a strategically important academic position known both at home and abroad. And as a research institute "at the end of the world and in the corner of the heaven", CIRD has radiated its influence to the whole country with great capacity and has become an important base for reform research".

In the past 19 years, CIRD has produced more than 190 volumes of reform research publications and many have been exhibited at the FRANKFURT BOOK FAIR. For example, The Second Reform, The Second Transition: Change of Development Models at the Crossroads, China's Reform in the Shadow of the Global Financial Crisis, Starting Point: Thirty Years of Reform in China, and 30 Years of China's Reforms　and Opening-up in the Eyes of Academics from Both Home and Abroad. The last one was selected as one of the top-quality publications to be contributed to the 30th Anniversary of China's Reform and Opening-up, which has been published in English, German, French, Spanish, Russian and Japanese, and distributed throughout the world. The two most recently published books, The Second Reform and The Second Transition: Change of Development Models at the Crossroads, became best-sellers in Beijing and were selected as readings for cadres or training textbooks by some ministries, local governments, research institutes and universities.

Policy Consulting Services for Reform Policy Decision-making

Equally dedicated to policy consulting services for the central and local government, CIRD has been commissioned with many consulting projects. The most recent projects include the following:

·The 'China Human Development Report 2007/08'" commissioned by UNDP

·Needed Institutional Reforms for Strengthening Supervising Public Services" in China commissioned by the National Development and Reform Commission

·"Study of Reform Needs in the 12th Five-year Plan Period" commissioned by the National Development and Reform Commission

·"Study of Social System Reform Needs in the 12th Five-year Plan Period" commissioned by the National Development and Reform Commission

·"Study of Administration System Reform Needs the 12th Five-year Plan Period" commissioned by the National Development and Reform Commission

·"International Comparison of National Income Distribution Patterns: Policies and Systems " commissioned by the National Development and Reform Commission

·"Equalization of Basic Public Services in the 12th Five-Year Plan Period" commissioned by the National Development and Reform Commission

·"Research in Post Franchise Regulations" commissioned by the State Post Bureau

·The Trends of Hainan Economic & Social Development and Practical Needs of the Construction of a Passage across Jinzhou Straits, commissioned by Ministry of Transport

·"Research in and Design of Programs for Equalization of Basic Public Services in Guangdong Province (2009-2020)" commissioned by the Guangdong Provincial Government

·"Research in and Design of Programs for Integration of Basic Public Services in the Pearl River Delta (2009-2020)",commissioned by the Guangdong Provincial Government

·"Research in and Design of a Master Plan for Comprehensive Reforms to Facilitate the Construction of a Resource-saving and Environment-friendly Society in the Changsha-Zhuzhou-Xiangtan City Group" commissioned by the Hunan Provincial Government

·A number of research reports submitted to the Hainan Provincial Government such as "Policies and Systems for the Construction of the Hainan International Tourism Island"

·"Industrial Integration of the Yangtze Delta with a Priority in the Construction of Shanghai Metropolitan Region" commissioned by Shanghai Municipal Government

·"Equalization of Basic Public Services in the 12th Five-Year Plan Period in Shenyang Economic Zone" commissioned by Liaoning Provincial Development and Reform Commission

·"Planning of Reforms in Prioritized Areas for Yunan Province in the 12th Five-year Plan Period" commissioned by Yunnan Provincial Development and Reform Commission

International Exchange and Cooperation to Facilitate Reform Policy Decision-making

With the support of relevant departments of the government, CIRD has been long implementing international projects sponsored by UNDP and Chinese-German bilateral inter-government projects, and has established long-term and stable academic exchange relations with the International Network of Private Business Organizations and Boao Forum for Asia, as well as with research institutions in Germany, Norway, UK, US, Holland, Sweden, India, Vietnam, Mongolia, Laos, Cambodia, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and a dozen of other countries.

Promoting Training Activities with Reform Research

Since its establishment, CIRD has run more than 100 training programs and has trained more than 9,000 government officials and senior business managers. It has launched a PhD program in theory and practice of economic transition in collaboration with Northeastern University and established a post-doctoral research program. It has also been long cooperating with Maastricht School of Management to run an MBA program and offering post-graduate courses in collaboration with Shanghai University of Economics and Finance and with Xiamen University. In collaboration with Chinese Academy of Governance (CAG), at the moment, a CAG research and training base is being built up within CIRD. And meanwhile, in cooperation with Northeastern University (NEU), an NEU-CIRD China Center for Economic Research has been established to jointly run a Ph. D program in applied economics.