The Yantai Institute of Coastal Zone Research (YIC) is affiliated with the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and is the sole Chinese academic institution that specializes in comprehensive research of the coastal zone. YIC, which is located in the beautiful coastal city of Yantai in Shandong Province, was founded in 2006. After a three-year preparatory period, the institute passed acceptance and was formally established by CAS, the Shandong Provincial Government and Yantai Municipal Government on December 1, 2009.

The mission of YIC is to explore the nature of the coastal zone and support its sustainable development. YIC focuses on the study of land-ocean interactions, the evolution and sustainable development of resources, and the nature of coastal zone environments, with particular attention to the influence of global climate change and human activities. The short-term goals of YIC are to create a theoretical, methodological and technological system of coastal science; to build a center of science and technology research, development and achievement transformation, and a base of senior talent training, and to improve its comprehensive and continuous innovation ability. The long-term goal of YIC is to develop into an internationally recognized institution of coastal zone research to make basic, strategic and prospective contributions to resource management, environmental protection, ecological construction, agricultural production and disaster prevention in the coastal zone of China.

YIC is home to the CAS Key Laboratory of Coastal Environmental Processes and Ecological Remediation; the Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Coastal Zone Environmental Processes, the Shandong Provincial Research Center for Coastal Zone Environmental Engineering Technology, and the Shandong Provincial Engineering Research Center for Monitoring Technologies and Equipment of Coastal Zone Ecological Environment. YIC has the Research Laboratory of Coastal Zone Environmental Processes and Ecological Restoration, the Research Laboratory of Coastal Zone Information Integration and Comprehensive Management, and the Research Laboratory of Coastal Zone Biology and Resource Utilization. It also runs several field stations, such as the CAS Muping Integrated Experimental Station for the Coastal Environment; the CAS Yellow River Delta Ecological Experimental Station for Coastal Wetlands; Yellow River Delta Saline-alkali Agro-ecosystem Observation and Research Station and the Research Center for Coastal Environmental Engineering and Technology of Shandong Province; the 500 - ton - class scientific research vessel "Chuangxin - 1". YIC also serves as the supporting unit for the Coastal Science and Engineering Branch of the China Association of Oceanic Engineering, the Coastal Management Science Branch of the Pacific Society of  China, the Marine Biotechnology Branch of the Chinese Society for Oceanology and Limnology, the Coastal Zone Sustainable Development Branch of the Chinese Society for Oceanology and Limnology, and the Chief International Project Office of the "Future Earth Coasts" International Program.

Facing the national strategic needs and the international scientific and technological frontier, YIC is now committed to studying land-ocean interactions, evolution and sustainable development of resources and environment in the coastal zone under the influence of global climate change and human activities.

The YIC campus occupies more than 10 hectares and includes one research building and three apartment buildings for researchers and students. YIC has a faculty of 261, there are 113 people in senior professional and technical positions. YIC has introduced and cultivated 8 national - level talents, 18 outstanding young talents of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, 20 Taishan Scholars in Shandong Province, and 9 talents under Yantai's Double - Hundred Plan, thus gathering a vibrant young and middle - aged scientific and technological talent team.YIC has master’s, Ph.D. and postdoctoral programs in environmental science and engineering and in marine science. YIC has a total of 194 graduate students and postdoctoral scholars. YIC has two first - level discipline doctoral training programs in Environmental Science and Engineering, and Marine Science, as well as a first - level discipline master's training program in Geography. There are four second - level discipline doctoral training programs in Environmental Science, Environmental Engineering, Marine Chemistry, and Marine Biology, a second - level discipline master's training program in Cartography and Geographic Information System, and two professional master's training programs in Environmental Engineering, and Biotechnology and Engineering. A relatively complete postgraduate training system has been formed.

YIC undertakes over a thousand national and local scientific and technological projects, including the National Key Research and Development Program, Basic Scientific and Technological Special Projects, the Pilot Special Projects of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the National Natural Science Foundation, and the Major Scientific and Technological Innovation Projects of Shandong Province. By the end of 2024, YIC had published a total of 6,397 papers. Among them, there were 4,178 SCI papers. The number of papers with an impact factor greater than 7 was 1,120 (accounting for 26.8%), and 1,618 papers were published in top - tier journals in the field (accounting for 38.7%). The average citation frequency per SCI paper was 33.71. Four disciplines, namely Chemistry, Environmental Ecology, Zoology and Botany, and Agronomy, entered the top 1% of the global scientific index database ESI. The institute has published more than 60 monographs. YIC has applied for 1,059 patents, with 708 patents authorized. 55 patents have been transformed, and the institute has received the "Large Patent Creator" award in Yantai City several times. The institute has won a total of 94 scientific and technological awards at provincial, ministerial, industry, and city - county levels. Among them, there are 13 Shandong Provincial Science and Technology Awards, 8 Marine Science and Technology Awards, and 13 Marine Engineering Science and Technology Awards.