The Operations Research Society of China - About the ORSC

About the ORSC

Introduction     

Modern operations research (OR) activities in China were initiated in the mid-1950s when the first OR group was founded at the Institute of Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) in 1956. By 1959, the second OR division had been established at the Institute of Mathematics, CAS. These two divisions merged into a single research department at the Institute of Mathematics in 1960. The main research interests at that time included queueing theory, nonlinear programming, graph theory, transportation theory, dynamic programming, quality control, and economic analysis. In 1963, the department organized a series of specialized OR courses at the University of Science and Technology of China, marking the first systematic university-level education in OR offered in the country. Today, OR courses are a core requirement in business schools and engineering departments at nearly every Chinese university.

The Operations Research Society of China (ORSC) was founded in 1980 during the First National Conference of OR held in Shandong Province, a coastal region in eastern China. ORSC became a member of IFORS in 1982. Since the 1990s, ORSC has actively contributed to the development of the Association of Asian-Pacific Operational Research Societies (APORS) within IFORS.

The missions of ORSC are to promote operations research and its applications in China,disseminate OR's scientific principles and methodologies through education and public engagement, and foster international exchanges and cooperation with other national and regional OR societies under both IFORS and APORS frameworks.

ORSC Presidents

1980-1984  Loo-Keng Hua

1985-1988  Minyi Yue

1989-1996  Guanghui Hsu

1997-2004  Xiang-Sun Zhang

2005-2012  Ya-xiang Yuan

2013-2020  Xudong Hu

2021-2028  Yu-Hong Dai

Divisions

Game Theory

Uncertainty Systems

Computational Systems Biology

Financial Engineering and Risk Management

Decision Science

Military Operations Research

Reliability Theory

Fuzzy Information and Engineering

Scheduling Theory

Operational Research in Enterprises

Data Science and Operational Intelligence

Mathematical Programming

Mathematics and Artificial Intelligence

Algorithm Software and Application

Stochastic Service and Operations Management

Graph Theory and Combinatorics

Behavioral Operations Management

Healthcare Operations Management

Data Analytics and Optimization of Smart Industry

Intelligence Computing

Conferences & Events

As its flagship event, ORSC convenes a quadrennial national congress to elect a new president, committee members, and officers for four-year terms. Biennial conferences have been held between congresses since 2012, attracting over 1000 participants nationwide.

Special Interest Divisions under ORSC organize annual or biennial symposiums between National Conferences. For example, ORSC will host its inaugural Conference for Young Scholars in Taiyuan from 19-21 August 2025 to foster exchanges among young researchers and practitioners.

Since its founding, ORSC has actively engaged in international exchanges under IFORS/APORS frameworks. Key initiatives include:

  • Hosting IFORS99 in Beijing
  • Hosting APORS Triennials in Beijing, Xi’an, and Hangzhou
  • China-EURO workshops in Shanghai and Slovenia on Optimization and Combinatorics
  • Sino-German OR Workshop in Munich
  • China-Japan joint workshops on OR & bioinformatics
  • UK-China joint workshops on OR
  • Inviting IFORS/INFORMS keynote lecturers to its national conferences

Awards

Lifetime Achievement Award

OR Research Award

OR Application Award

OR Youth Award

Journals

  • Journal of the Operations Research Society of China （Founded in 2013）
  • Operations Research Transactions（Founded in 1997）
  • Operations Research & Management Science（Founded in 1992）

Contact us

Address: 323 Siyuan Building, #55 ZGC East Road, Beijing 100190

Tel: +86-10-82541190

Email: office@orsc.org.cn