Formerly the Property Rights Research Institute of Shandong University, the CER emerged in 2001 as an independent institution for research and postgraduate education. It incorporates three academic institutes:
- the Institute for Property Rights Research, specialising in property rights theory, institutional economics, and system reform in China
- the Institute for Financial Theories and Engineering, which lays emphasis on financial mathematics, capital markets, stock investment and financial engineering
- the Institute for Quantitative Economics, focussing on mathematical economics, econometrics and public economics.
The website is in Chinese and English. The English version does not currently (April 2005) have any additional information or papers to download.