On January 24, 2013, the Think Tanks and Civil Societies Program of the University of Pennsylvania of the United States released the 2012 Global Think Tanks Rankings and associated trends report. A total of 6603 think tanks from 182 countries were nominated and ranked subsequently into different categories by world, region, area of research and special achievements.

Out of the total 6603 think tanks, DRC ranked the 100th in the Top 150 Think Tanks in the World. In the category of "45 Top Think Tanks in China, India, Japan and Korea", in which 9 think tanks from China were included, DRC ranked the 19th. In the category of "40 Best Government Affiliated Think Tanks", where 6 think tanks from China were listed, DRC ranked the 26th.