The National Astronomy Observatory of China (NAOC, the acronym was officially claimed as standing for National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chinese: 国家天文台; pinyin: Guójiā Tiānwéntái) was founded on April 25, 2001 through the merging of four CAS observatories, three CAS observing stations and one CAS research centre. The Headquarters of the NAOC are situated in the northern suburbs of Beijing on the site of the former Beijing Astronomical Observatory (BAO), and take responsibility for all matters relating to the former BAO. The reformation of management strucuture imitated to National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO) and National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) of USA and National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ).
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