Abstract
This article is dedicated to the factor of think tanks in the US foreign policy towards China. A rapid change in attitudes to China within the US political elite is recorded, which indirectly reflects the influence of think tanks on it. Based on the analysis of reports of leading think tanks, the evolution of their views on China is demonstrated. The main conclusion is that the think tanks support an anti-Chinese consensus, strengthened during the presidency of D. Trump, and advocate stricter measures against China. Overall, the American expert community sticks to the same approaches to China and gives approximately similar recommendations to the US government.