The Institute for China-America Studies (ICAS) is a Washington, D.C.-based think tank affiliated with and funded by the government of the People's Republic of China as part of the Chinese Communist Party's united front global influence operations.

Founded in 2015, ICAS receives most of its funding from the Hainan Nanhai Research Foundation, which is sponsored in-turn by the National Institute for South China Sea Studies, a Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs-funded research institute based in Haikou, China.

[4] It was formed in response to General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Xi Jinping's call for CCP supporters to establish a presence in the United States to "go global" to "advance the Chinese narrative.

[2] A U.S. government report from the United States–China Economic and Security Review Commission described ICAS as an attempt by the CCP to "directly inject its own voice into policy discussions" as "part of a campaign to introduce Beijing’s views on its territorial claims in the South China Sea to Washington.

"[7] Foreign Policy reported that despite its significant funding, ICAS struggles to gain credibility and attention in the U.S. due to its alignment with Beijing's views and lack of aggressive engagement and sophisticated operations within the think tank ecosystem.