Brookings Institution, a top US hink tank

 

Chinese academics must devote themselves to creating a new generation of think tanks capable of capitalizing on intellectual resources and guiding top leaders with practical suggestions that cater to the public’s needs, said Liu Zhiqin, a senior research fellow at the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies (CIFS) at Renmin University of China (RUC), following the release of two think tank rankings in early 2015, namely the 2014 Global Go To Think Tank Index Report from the US and the 2014 Chinese Think Tank Influence Report from China.

The Global Go To Think Tank Index Report is the brainchild of James McGann, director of the Think Tanks and Civil Society Program at the University of Pennsylvania. The listed think tanks were nominated by thousands of scholars and experts from all over the world. It's issued on an annual basis.
 

In the 2014 report, seven Chinese think tanks were ranked among the “Top 150 Think Tanks in the World,” including the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, the China Institute of International Studies and the CIFS.
 

Statistics show that there are now nearly 6,700 think tanks in the world. The US, China and the UK topped the list in terms of number, with 1,830 think tanks based in the US, 429 in China and 287 in the UK.

Undoubtedly, the clout of Chinese think tanks is far weaker than that of the world’s top 10, such as the US Brookings Institution and Britain’s Chatham House.

CIFS Executive Director Wang Wen called for efforts to enhance the influence of Chinese think tanks in the world and make China a great power in terms of think tanks.
 

The project of think-tank building in the Chinese academic community is heavily reliant on the support of the country’s top leadership. In his speeches and writings, Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for the construction of think thanks, stressing that they constitute an important part of China’s soft power, and he has asked academics to explore how to establish a new type that features Chinese characteristics.
 

Within this context, the construction of think tanks has become a top priority for renowned colleges and universities in China. Liu Yuanchun, executive director of the National Academy of Development and Strategy at RUC, noted that think tanks set up by colleges and universities should open convenient channels to “report pragmatic researches to superiors” and “apply them in practice,” which is also an important means of improving China’s governance capacity.

 

Ma Haiyan is a reporter from Chinese Social Sciences Today.