Launched when only a trickle of Chinese graduate students and scholars came to the United States for study, the Scholar Orientation Program was created to supplement academic training that Chinese scholars received at U.S. institutions by providing them with greater exposure to America's history, culture, and key institutions.

In 2006, ten promising graduate students were selected from the United States to join with ten each from mainland China and Taiwan to participate in a National Committee's conflict resolution program.

Susan A. Thornton delivered the 2019 Barnett-Oksenberg Lecture on Sino-American Relations in Shanghai on May 15, 2019. Now in its twelfth iteration, this annual lecture affords the opportunity for a frank and forthright discussion of current and potential issues between the two countries; it is the first and only ongoing lecture series on U.S.-China relations that takes place on the Mainland.

During the opening months of the 113th session of Congress, the National Committee again organized a briefing for freshman Members of Congress on critical issues in the U.S.-China relationship. Headlined by Governor Jon Huntsman, former Ambassador to China (and a former National Committee Director), this session was the fourth of its kind in as many election cycles. Governor Huntsman drew on his vast experience with China to comment on the present-day bilateral relationship in an off-the-record session on Capitol Hill.