CAST is composed of 167 national academic and professional societies, whose individual members put together amount to a total number of more than 4 million. These societies represent the most part of scientific activities of China's science and technology community.  To promote the reform and development of these societies is a major task of CAST in the process of realizing its objectives.

With the aim to build a high level platform for the development of new ideas and channeling science to the needs of economic and social development, and for the cultivation of scientific talents, CAST and its affiliated societies does a lot of work in sponsoring and organizing scientific meetings and forums in various disciplines and in promoting science publications.

The Annual Meetings of CAST

The Annual Meeting is the largest domestic meeting that CAST holds and it is designed to discuss the most pressing issues concerning science and technology as well as economic and social development in China. Held in different parts of the country on a rotating basis, the Meeting combines scientific exchanges among scientists with science popularization activities, attracting thousands of audience from all over the country as well as from the locality. It has become a platform for communication among scientists of different disciplines, between scientists and the general public and between scientists and the government.

Science Publishing

CAST and its affiliates now publish 892 journals covering a broad spectrum of scientific disciplines and fields, including science, engineering, medicine, agriculture, and many interdisciplinary subjects. These journals hold an important position in Chinese publishing circles. Some journals have established cooperative links with their foreign counterparts.

Forums Focused on Selected Topics

To address the scientific and technological issues arising from the country's economic and social development and of the public concern, CAST and its affiliates organize many forums to which scientists of different disciplines, engineers and social scientists are invited. These forums effectively bring together the insight and expertise of the participants and help spur the disciplinary research.

Links with Scientific and Technological Circles in Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan

CAST maintains close links with the scientific and technological circles in the Hong Kong and Macau Special Administrative Regions and Taiwan. CAST and its partners in these regions jointly sponsor a series of exchange activities on annual basis, such as the Open Lecture by Eminent Scientists in Contemporary China in Hong Kong and Macau, the Cross-Strait Symposium of Young Scientists, the Cross-Strait Symposium on Innovation in Technology-based Industries. More such activities are organized by the affiliated societies of CAST and the branch associations in various localities.