When Chinese Academy of Governance announced its ranking of Chinese think tanks in March, based on their level of comprehensive influence, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) came in second only to the Xinhua News Agency, and it took the top spot on the basis of influence in the media and academic institutions.

The compilers used 34 indices in examining data from 25 top think tanks, in its March 16-31 study of their influence in the media, the general public, academic institutions, policy making, and the international arena, with both Xinhua and CAS showing an increase in the amount of information they provided in March, with the former getting a score of 31.24 and the latter, 23.10.

This put them way ahead of the other think tanks, for example, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, which came in third, with a score of 2.22.

The reason CAS overtook Xinhua in media and academic influence was because of the amount of attention it gets from all walks of life. It also came in at second place in its influence among the general public and international communities.

The study also found the total amount of information provided by think tanks growing rapidly and up a whopping 81.4 percent from February. More than half of the information sources were online, with social media also making a great contribution. It’s worth noting that half of the information in science and technology was contributed by CAS, in the area of scientific and technological cooperation, smart chips, cloud computing, informatization, application of research results, smart energy, smart cities, industrial biotechnology, space, and life sciences.