Based on the think tank research published by Fan Jie’s team in Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences, this study reviews the progress of human geography in the fields of regional coordinate development, major function zoning strategy, and the spatial governance system. Furthermore, it focuses on reviewing the think tank contributions that serve the need of major national strategic decision-making. Think tank contributions include the followings. (1) Through continuous engagement in major preliminary research for national Five-Year Plans, the team has established a prominent think tank brand for the Chinese Academy of Sciences. This brand focuses on regional coordinate development and supports the drafting of National Five-Year Plan Proposals and Outline. (2) The team systematically conducted research on the theory, methodology, and policy of major function zoning and pioneered the regional function theory, the spatial order law, and the “double evaluation” method (concerning resource and environmental carrying capacity and territorial space development suitability). In collaboration with national decision-making departments, the team promoted the elevation of major function zoning from a spatial planning concept to a national regional strategy and a foundational institution for ecological civilization construction. (3) Through seminal publications in Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences, the research team is the first to demonstrate the fundamental role of resource and environmental carrying capacity evaluation in spatial planning, to propose the scientific concept and construction pathways of the “Qinghai-Xizang Plateau National Park Cluster”, and to initiate research on the formation mechanisms and policy frameworks of “relative poverty areas”. These contributions have played a vital prospective leading role and provided scientific support for the modernization of China’s spatial governance system and governance capabilities.
FAN et al. (Fri,) studied this question.