In February 2018, CTTS of Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences has officially released 2017 Chinese Think Tanks Report: Influence Ranking and Policy Suggestions. Based on the impact power of decision-making, the academic, global and social impact as well as the growth capability, the report has appraised and ranked the influence of various Chinese think tanks comprehensively via the method of integrating objective indexes with subjective evaluation. Center for American Studies, Fudan University has been ranked as one of the Top 10 Influential Chinese Think Tanks centering on international relations for four successive years. 

China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, China Institute of International Studies, Shanghai Institutes for International Studies, National Institute of International Strategy, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, National Institute for Global Strategy, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, China International Institute for strategic Society, Center for International Studies of Xinhua News Agency, Institute of International and Strategic Studies, Peking University, Center for China and Globalization, the Center for American Studies at Fudan University and the Institute of International Relations at Tsinghua University made the list.

In the 2017 annual report released by CTTS of Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, the think tanks at Fudan University, sub-categorized into the comprehensive and specialized types, which include Fudan Development Institute, China Institute, Research Institute of Chinese Economy, State-Building Research Center and Center for Population and Development Policy Studies at Fudan University have achieved splendid results in the appraisals and rankings respectively.