ABRICSthinktankseminarongovernanceisheldinJohannesburg,SouthAfrica,onJuly4COURTESYPHOTOIt鈥檚boomtimeforChinesethinktanks.With570suchinstitutions,Chinamaintainsitseight-yeardominanceastheworld鈥檚secondlargestthink-tankfactory.AtotalofsevenChinesethinktanksareontheglobaltop100list,andalmost30percentofthetop90thinktanksinChina,India,JapanandtheRepublicofKoreaarefromChina,accordingtothe2017GotoThinkTankIndexReportreleasedearlythisyear.
Thereport,undertakenbyProfessorJamesG.McGannandhisteamattheUniversityofPennsylvaniaintheUnitedStates,isanauthoritativevoiceininternationalthinktankcirclesandthe11theditionofitskind.Whenthereportwasfirstreleasedin2008,just111Chinesethinktankswereincludedintheglobalpool.
鈥淭hankstothenumberoftimesChinesePresidentXiJinpinghasmentionedtheimportanceofthinktanksinadvancingmodernizationandreform,endlesspublicsupportisbeingprovidedforthinktanks.IthascreatedagoldenageforthinktanksinChina,鈥滿cGanntoldBeijingReview.
New-styleinstitutions
Inabroadsense,theoriginsofChinesethinktankscanbetracedbackmorethan2,000years,whenLordMengchangoftheStateofQirecruiteda3,000-strongentouragetohelphimsurvivethechaosoftheWarringStatesPeriod(453B.C.-221B.C.).However,themoredirectancestorofthemodernChinesethinktanksystememergedin1949withthefoundingofthePeople鈥檚RepublicofChina.
In1949,theChineseAcademyofSciencesestablishedabranchdedicatedtophilosophyandsociology鈥攖heembryonicphaseofChina鈥檚thinktanksystem.Twenty-eightyearslater,in1977,thatembryodevelopedintoChina鈥檚firstnationallevelthinktank鈥攖heChineseAcademyofSocialSciences(CASS).Thesystemwasdiversifiedoverthefollowingfourdecades,withasurgeofgovernment-affiliatedandquasi-non-governmentalthinktanksfrom1977to1987,thefirstbatchofnon-governmentalinstitutionsbetween1988and1993,theemergenceofthoseaffiliatedwithuniversitiesfrom1994to2002,andanewwaveofnon-governmentalpolicyinstitutesfrom2003to2012.Duringthelastofthoseperiods,36newnon-governmentalpolicyinstituteswerefounded,nearlytwiceasmanyasthoseestablishedbythegovernmentinthesametimespan.
Yetitwas2013thatmarkedawatershedmomentinthedevelopmentoftheChinesethinktank.InAprilthatyear,PresidentXifirstinstructedontheconstructionofanewtypeofthinktankswithChinesecharacteristics.AccordingtoXi,themoredifficultreformandopeningupbecomes,themorepowerfulresearchinstitutesareneeded.ThethinktankhassincecometobeviewedasakeytoolinimprovingChina鈥檚governanceaswellasanintegralpartofnationalsoftpower.
Twoyearslaterinearly2015,theChineseGovernmentrolledoutamilestonedocument鈥攖hefirstofitskindsince1949鈥攐nhowtobuildChinesethinktanks,aimingtodevelopaclusterofnewinstitutionswithChinesecharacteristicsincludingsomeworld-renownedorganizationsby2020.
SowhatexactlydoesathinktankwithChinesecharacteristicslooklike?YuYunquan,DeputyDirectoroftheAcademyofContemporaryChinaandWorldStudies(ACCWS),explained,鈥淚tshouldkeepacloseeyeonChina鈥檚reality,studyChina-relatedissues,andhelptoadvancethecountry鈥檚modernization.鈥滱CCWSisaBeijing-basedthinktankwhichfocusesonthestudyofinternationalcommunication.
Lastyear,themostpopulartopicsdiscussedbyChinesethinktanksincludedtheBeltandRoadInitiative,BRICS,cooperationamongEastAsiancountries,theGuangdong-HongKong-MacaoGreaterBayArea,financialriskprevention,scienceandtechnologicalinnovation,andPartybuilding,accordingtothe2017ChineseThinkTankReportreleasedbytheShanghaiAcademyofSocialSciencesinMarch.
In2015,25thinktanks,includingCASS,wereincludedamongthefirstpilotunitsforbuildinghigh-endpolicyinstitutes.TheyconductresearchonhottopicsconcerningChina鈥檚governance,publicpolicy,macroeconomicsandnationalsecurity.Theyalsoengageinpublicdiplomacy,tryingtomakeChina鈥檚voicebetterheardworldwide.
Non-governmentalresearchorganizationsarealsobeingtakenintoaccount.鈥淭heoperationofathinktankwithChinesecharacteristicsshouldbeflexibleandindependent,鈥漎utoldBeijingReview.Thismeansthatathinktankshouldpresentindependentresearch.Itshouldworkforthecommongoodofthewholecountry,societyandthepeople,ratherthanforcommercialbenefitortheinterestsofaspecificdepartmentorafewpeople,headded.
Overthepast15years,China鈥檚nongovernmentalthinktankshavegrownbyleapsandbounds,withsomeprestigiousscholarsandofficialsleavingtheirjobstoestablishinstitutesoftheirown.Lastyear,21non-governmentalpolicyinstitutesfoundaplaceonthedomestictop100listaccordingtothe2017ChineseThinkTankReport,andmanyareplayingabiggerroleinChina鈥檚governance.
TheCenterforChinaandGlobalization(CCG),aBeijing-basedthinktankfoundedin2008,isaprimeexample.TheCCGisbestknownforitsroleinpromotingthegreateropennessofChina.In2017,itranked92ndamongtopthinktanksworldwide,andisthefirstnon-governmentalChinesethinktankevertobreakintothetop100.Oneoftheinstitute鈥檚cofounders,WangHuiyao,wasappointedacounselortoChina鈥檚StateCouncilbyPremierLiKeqiangin2015.TheCentralGovernmentinvitesprestigiousscholars,manyofwhomareeitherwithoutpartyaffiliationoralignedwithnon-Communistparties,tobecomecounselorsandofferadviceonthecountry鈥檚governance.
鈥淚tissafetosaythatChina鈥檚thinktankshavegrownrapidlyinbothqualityandquantity,鈥漎usaid.
Thinktankdiplomacy
GoingglobalandenhancingexchangeswiththinkersfromaroundtheworldaregoalssharedbymostChinesethinktanks,withmanyinstitutionsexploringamultitudeofwaystorealizethisobjective.鈥淚nrecentyears,positiveprogresshasbeenmadeinChinesethinktanks鈥檈ffortstogoglobal,鈥漌angWen,ExecutivePresidentoftheChongyangInstituteforFinancialStudieswithRenminUniversityofChina(RDCY),toldBeijingReview.
ThinktankforumshavebecomearoutineeventonthesidelinesofmostinternationalsummitsbetweenChinaanditspartnersinrecentyears.In2012,theChina-AfricaThinkTankForumbecameapermanentfeatureoftheForumonChina-AfricaCooperation,theparamountexchangemechanismbetweenChinaandAfricancountries.Atthethinktankforum鈥檚seventhmeeting,whichtookplaceinBeijinginearlyJuly,China鈥檚reformandopeningupandthefutureofSino-Africantieswerehighlighted.Similarlyin2015thelargesteverThink20forumkickedoffinBeijingwithover500expertsfromthinktanksandacademiccirclesfromtheGroupof20(G20)countriesgatheringtoshareviewsonthe2016G20SummitinChina.Lastyear,theChinaCouncilforBRICSThinkTankCooperationwasestablishedtofurthertheexchangeofknowledgeamongitsfivememberstates.
CohostingdialogueandseminarsinforeigncountriesonspecificissuesisanotherkeywayforChinesethinktankstogoglobal.OneofthemostimpressiveeventswasheldinWashington,D.C.onJuly5,2016,aweekbeforetherulingofthePhilippines-initiatedarbitrationondisputesintheSouthChinaSeawasannounced.ChineseandU.S.thinktanksengagedinacomprehensivediscussionontheSouthChinaSea,urgingallinvolvedpartiestodeescalatethesituationviaapracticalapproach.鈥淭hedialogueattractedtheinternationalspotlightbecauseoftheviewsofformerStateCouncilorDaiBingguo,whostatedthattheso-called鈥榓rbitrationaward鈥檃mountedtonothingmorethanapieceofpaper,鈥漵aidWangoftheRDCY.
BuildingforeignbranchesofdomesticthinktanksisanothermethodemployedbyChineseinstitutions.China鈥檚firstoverseasthinktank鈥攖heInstituteofChina-AmericaStudies鈥攚asestablishedinWashington,D.C.inApril2015.RunbytheHaikou-basedNationalInstituteforSouthChinaSeaStudies,theorganizationspecializesinresearchonissuesintheSouthChinaSeaandparticipatesinrelatedacademicexchanges.Twoyearslater,theChina-CEEInstitute,thefirstnon-governmentalChinesethinktankregisteredinEurope,wasfoundedinBudapest,Hungary,aimingtoencouragescholarsinCentralandEasternEuropeancountriestocarryoutjointresearch,fieldstudiesandseminarswiththeirChinesepeers.鈥淚tisacreativemoveinthehistoryofChina鈥檚thinktanks,鈥滺uangPing,PresidentoftheChina-CEEInstitutetoldPeople鈥檚Daily.
Conversely,internationalthinktanksarealsopartneringwiththeirChinesecounterpartstoestablishbranchesinChina.Forexample,theBrookingsInstitution,widelyconsideredtheworld鈥檚preeminentthinktank,setupanoverseasarmatTsinghuaUniversityinBeijingin2006.
InvitingforeignthinkersisanotherwaytoglobalizeChina鈥檚thinktanksystem.ManyformerinternationalstatespeoplehavebecomecounselorsorresearchfellowswithChinesethinktanks,andtheRDCYalonehasmorethan40prestigiousforeignthinkers,includingformerSlovenianPresidentDaniloT眉rk.
Bypublishingarticlesandresearchinforeignlanguagesandonoverseasmediaplatforms,thinktanksareabletoextendtheirglobalreach.Lastsummer,theEnglishversionofthe2017ChineseThinkTankReportwasreleasedinLondon,thefirstreportonChinesepolicyinstitutespublishedoverseas.HomegrownChinesephrasessuchastheBeltandRoadInitiativeandacommunitywithasharedfuturehavealsobecomebuzzwordsininternationalthinktankcircles.
鈥淚tisanundeniablefactthatnewChinesethinktankshaveenhancedtheirinternationalpresencebytakingsomecriticalstepsinthepastfiveyears,鈥漌angsaid.
ThelaunchceremonyoftheChineseeditionofTheFifthEstate:ThinkTanks,PublicPolicy,andGovernancebyJamesG.McGann(secondright),aprofessorattheUniversityofPennsylvaniaintheUnitedStates,takesplaceinBeijingonJune16.TheeventwascohostedbythePangoalInstitutionandtheChinaYouthPublishingGroupLINANHurdlesahead
Despiteevidentprogress,manyindustryexpertsbelievethereisalongwaytogobeforeChina鈥檚thinktankscantrulyrivaltheirinternationalcounterparts,withalackofinternationaltalenttheforemostchallengeinthisregard.
AccordingtoWang,Chinahasbeenabletoattractsomeforeignexperts,butthisnumberisfarfromenough.Healsobelievesatwo-wayflowoftalentisrequired,meaningthatChinashouldbothimportandexportthinkersatthesametime.ButChinaisstillunabletoprovidealargepooloftalentwhocanworkforinternationalorganizations.鈥淭herearejustafewChinesethinkerswhospeakgoodEnglishandcanexplainclearlythestoryofChina鈥檚reformandopeningup,鈥漵aidWang.
WangsuggestsChinabuildaglobaltalent-recruitingmechanismtoattractmoreforeignscholarstoworkatthecountry鈥檚thinktanks,whileatthesametimetrainingmoreversatiledomestictalenttobebetteracquaintedwithresearchandinternationalcommunication.
Ashortageofleadingthinktanksposesanotherbarrier.Chinahastheworld鈥檚secondlargestnumberofthinktanks,butonly1.2percentareconsideredamongtheworld鈥檚top100,withnoneinthetop20.鈥淔ewChinesescholarscanmakehisorhervoiceheardbytheworldwhendiscussingthesamehotspotissueasWesternthinkers.EvenonsomekeyChineseissues,fewdomesticthinktanksareabletoputforwarduniqueconceptsorauthoritativetheories,鈥漬otedYu,addingthatworkingouthowtodelivercreativeconceptsisacommonchallengefacingallChinesethinktanks.
ThisfurthercontributestothetradedeficitinintellectualoutputbetweenChinaandtherestoftheworld.鈥淐hinesewisdomseldomreachesforeignaudiences.Intheinternationaltradeofintellectualgoods,Chinahasahugedeficitwiththeworld,鈥漵aidWang.
Alimitedcapacityforinternationalcommunicationisalsotoblame.鈥淭hankstotheoverseasarmsofthinktanksandmediaaffiliatedinstitutions,Chinesethinktankscannowattractmoreoftheinternationalspotlight,鈥漵aidWang,whileacknowledgingthatsuccessfullyintegratingwithlocalacademiccirclesremainsaproblem.
McGannalsohighlightsthepressureonthinktankstorespondnotonlytoquestionsaboutwheresocietyandgovernmentshouldgointhemediumtolongterm,butalsotowhatishappeningonthestreettoday.鈥淪omeoftheinstitutionsinChinaaretoobigandtoobureaucratictorespondtothesequestions,eveninthemediumtolongterm,鈥漢esaid.
CopyeditedbyLaurenceCoultonCommentsto