"CI" is an abbreviation of competitive intelligence, an important research area of information science. Its application fields include: monitoring business environment, analysis and evaluation of competitors, tracking market needs and technology developments, discovering new or potential competitors, and assisting market decision，etc.

CI studio was founded in 2000 and sponsored by Huawei Technology Co. Its first project "Competitive Intelligence Analysis and Application" is a two-year project signed with Huawei. The purpose of CI studio is:（1) deepening theoretical and applied research;(2) training practitioners in the areas of enterprise strategic intelligence and decision-making, and promoting the popularization of competitive intelligence; (3) serving the needs of the country and carring out intelligence studies in traditional and non-traditional security fields.

In the 20 years since its establishment, the studio has published more than ten books and many papers, such as The theory and practice of competitive intelligence, Network information retrieval, Information source and information collection, etc. It has undertaken a number of projects entrusted by enterprises in telecommunications, aviation, metallurgy, automobile and other industries, submitted more than 60 consulting reports, and participated in more than 100 training sessions.  In recent years, it has also undertaken the information projects related to national security, including the research on the history and geography of the South China Sea，and the construction of related databases..

The director of CI studio is Professor Guchao SHEN.