The paper makes a detailed review on the development of public beneficial specialties of the Changjiang/Yangtze River Scientific Research Institute in the last decade. Innovative research achievements are presented in terms of flood control, drought relief and disaster mitigation, river regulation, water resources management, water and soil conservation, water ecology and environmental protection, river basin planning, and integrated water administration. In line with the new tasks of river regulation in the forthcoming years, considerations for the prospect of scientific researches for public benefit are put forward