In August 2013, the Policy Research Center for the Chinese Economy, a think tank project proposed by the China Center for Economic Studies at Fudan University, was officially approved by the Shanghai Education Commission as one of the think tanks in Shanghai universities, and it is the only one in the field of economics.

The CCES is one of the 100 humanities and social science key research bases designated by the Ministry of Education. In addition to the full-time faculty of the CCES, the think tank also includes researchers from other parts of Fudan University, Peking University, Yale University, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. As a research think tank aiming to offer policy consultation and advice about Chinese economic growth in the medium and long term, the Policy Research Center for the Chinese Economy is making efforts to realize three goals: become a top think tank on Chinese economy in China that has international influence; create research products that have Fudan characteristics; set up an open platform to cultivate research talents on Chinese economic issues.

While 149 think tank projects from 26 universities in Shanghai entered the competition, only 10 were officially approved and 6 launched after two rounds of review by the Shanghai Education Commission. The following centers at Fudan host five of the ten approved projects: Party Construction and State Development Research Center, China Center for Economic Studies, Population and Development Policy Research Center, Asia-Pacific Regional Cooperation and Governance Research Center, and Religion and Chinese National Security Research Center.

Translated by Lin Qiaohui