13 December 2010 Last updated at 00:04 GMT

Charles Wolf, Board Member of the RAND Corporation, visits the APECF Beijing Secretariat

On December 10, 2010, at 10 in the morning, Mr. Charles Wolf, Board Member of the RAND Corporation and Director of RAND International Economic Department visited the APECF Beijing Secretariat and held extensive discussions on Sino-US relations and the appreciation of the RMB with Executive Vice Chairman of APECF Xiao Wunan, Reuters China Specialist Correspondent Lin Guangyao, and others.

Mr. Charles Wolf receives a warm welcome from the staff of the APECF Beijing Secretariat the moment he gets off the car

RAND Corporation is a famous American think tank first established to offer research and analysis services to the United States armed forces. With its expansion in scope, it currently offers research and policy advisory services to governments of other countries and for-profit organizations. RAND has approximately 1,600 employees who work among the following six branches: (USA) Santa Monica, California; Arlington, Virginia; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; (Europe) Leiden, the Netherlands; Berlin, Germany; Cambridge, United Kingdom. The origin of RAND traces back to Project RAND, set up in 1945 by the United States Army Air Forces under contract for the Douglas Aircraft Company. Project RAND released the Preliminary Design of an Experimental World-Circling Spaceship. In May 1948, Project RAND was separated from Douglas and became an independent think tank organization. In the mid 1990s, about two-thirds of its research was related to national security. Donald Rumsfeld, former Chairman of RAND (1981-1986) used to be Secretary of Defense of the US from 2001 to 2007.

Mr. Lin Guangyao (left), Reuters China Specialist Correspondent, Xiao Wunan(Middle), the Executive Vice Chairman of APECF are talking with Mr. Charles Wolf, Board Member and Director of International Economic Department of RAND.

RAND is also famous for its economic research. Several of its council members are Nobel Prize Laureates in economics, including Herbert Alexander Simon, John Forbes, Nash Jr., Thomas C. Schelling, etc. Current research areas include: children's policy, democracy and criminal justice, education, environment and energy, health, international policy, labor market, national security, population and religion, science and technology, social welfare, terrorism and transportation.

Dr. Charles Wolf, Director of International Economics Department of RAND, who visits the APECF Beijing Secretariat, is one of the four board members in RAND and also a famous expert in Asian Studies.