Chinese Academy of Social Sciences 

 

President Xi Jinping called for the development of new think tanks tailored to meet China’s unique needs at the sixth meeting of the Leading Group for Overall Reform on Oct. 27.

 

Xi said the cultivation of intellectual resources is one of the highest priorities for a nation because they play a crucial role in governing a country successfully. The greater the reform, the more intellectual support is needed, he said.

 

"Building a new type of think tank with Chinese characteristics is an important and pressing mission,” Xi said. “The aim should be to promote scientific and democratic decision-making, to advance the modernization of the country's governance system and ability, as well as to strengthen China's soft power.”

 

Scholars said this moment is a crucial juncture for Chinese think tanks because they face the challenge of solving a variety of major public policy issues and mitigating conflicts among various interests. At the same time, there is also an opportunity to gain greater influence and international reputation given China’s rising status in the international community.

 

Modern national governance

During his tenure in office, Xi has written several guidelines that lay out the overall requirements for building new think tanks with Chinese features. In April 2013, Xi elevated the construction of think tanks to the level of a national strategy, saying that think tanks are a vital element of the nation’s soft power, and he highlighted the importance of building new think tanks with Chinese features.

 

The third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee in November 2013 passed a draft to facilitate the building of new think tanks with Chinese characteristics and improve the consultation system for policy-making.

 

The year 2013 was a fruitful one for Chinese think tanks as research institutes and universities worked to construct a new breed of think tanks. The months following the third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee saw a rapid increase in the number of think tanks, but the nation is still in the early exploratory stage in terms of building think tanks custom made for China, Xi said. 

　　　　

Shang Wei, a researcher at the Academy of Military Science, said that think tanks are now becoming an important component of the modern national governance system, and it is safe to say they will achieve more as China makes progress in reform and opening up, leading to greater scientific and democratic decision-making and more information transparency.

 

Xi’s proposal aims to abandon reform by trial and error in favor of a decision-making process that is more detailed and scientific, said Tang Lei, an associate research fellow at the Institute of Information Studies, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS). Think tanks will play an active role in the decision-making of government at all levels and public activities, Tang said.

 

New development model

Currently, China's think tank development model is mainly based on the experiences in Western countries. Because China is so different from the West in terms of its political system, history and culture, any attempt to copy the Western model will result in institutions that are ill equipped to meet national conditions. Scholars suggested China should learn from the experiences of other countries, but should not mimic them.

 

Da Wei, director of the Institute of American Studies under the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations, said that Western countries, especially the United States, have a two-party system in which various voices and interest groups legally exist. Think tanks and lobbyists with different interests try to influence the political decision-making process.

 

“That is the American political system, and it does not fit China. We should follow the reality in China and build think tanks that are centered on research while keeping in close touch with the government,” Da said.

 

Think tanks are not new, but developing a new type of think tank that is designed for China is quite a different story. They should not be completely beholden to the leaders like the advisers of ancient times, nor should they be independent of the government as they are in Western countries, Shang said. The role of think tanks and the standards they should follow are still yet to be clarified, so further research is needed, he said.

 

Building international influence

Xi said that think tanks affiliated with all facets of society, including the Party, the government, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, the army, enterprises as well as non-governmental think tanks, should be developed in a coordinated way to form a think tank system with clear definitions, features and appropriate scales.

 

Internationally renowned and influential think tanks are needed as well as some professional think tanks, Xi said.

 

To increase international influence of think tanks, scholars suggested that the best among them should emphasize research as well as the promotion of their publications and reputation.

 

Chinese think tanks currently lag behind in terms of their awareness of and ability to utilize new media and the Internet. Compared to their Western counterparts, Chinese think tanks lack international influence.

 

To solve this, Chinese think tanks should strive to give their websites a global orientation, thereby transforming them into tools for enhancing international influence, said Wang Lili, deputy dean of the National Academy of Development and Strategy, Renmin University of China.

 

“For think tanks, research projects and brand marketing are equally important,” Shang said. “At present, the construction of a new type of think tank with Chinese characteristics has just begun, which requires high-quality research and some wise marketing strategies

 

Da stressed that it is necessary to focus on improving research capacities while providing solutions to all sorts of problems for the government and society.

 

Xue Lan, dean of the School of Public Policy and Management of Tsinghua University said that think tanks should conduct an in-depth study of public policy. The general public has participated in and influenced the formulation of public policies in a variety of ways, so traditional think tanks should also be responsible for promoting and disseminating information to the them, Xue said.

 

China's reform offers a significant opportunity for the construction and development of leading think tanks. As the policy research and academic environment improves, China's think tank will shoulder the responsibility of promoting scientific and democratic decision-making while issuing China's voice in the global governance system, reflecting China's soft power as top international think tanks with Chinese characteristics, Xue said.

 

 

The Chinese version appeared in Chinese Social Sciences Today, No. 663, Oct.31, 2014      

The Chinese link is: http://www.cssn.cn/xspj/xspj_tt/201410/t20141031_1383420.shtml

 

 

 

 

Translated by Yang Xue

Revised by Justin Ward