How can China foster its think tanks?
- By Han Fangming
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E-mail China.org.cn, March 24, 2015
"Think tank" has been a buzzword in public policy since 2014, and it will continue to be in the future.
The outlook for the development of Chinese think tanks in 2015 is promising judging from the work reports delivered by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and Yu Zhengsheng, chairman of the 12th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), both of whom stressed the importance of special intellectual institutes at the recent annual legislative sessions.
In past centuries, China never lacked talented advisors and counselors, though they typically worked privately for feudal masters. In modern times, advisors and counselors are often organized in think tanks, institutes that provide research and recommendations about policies that serve the public interest.
It has not been long since think tanks first began to receive considerable attention in China, and the number of such intellectual institutes has increased sharply since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in November 2012.
According to the Opinion on Strengthening and Building New-Type Thinks Tanks with Chinese Characteristics issued by the central government in January 2015, think tank development is imperative to the country's overall strategic goals.
The country's top decision makers probably issued the Opinion in the hope of stimulating the intellectual market with a variety of voices, to improve the quality of policies and the effectiveness of theories when they are applied to practice.
According to the Global Go To Think Tank Index Report 2014 issued by James G. McGann, a professor from the Lauder Institute at the University of Pennsylvania, there are 6,681 think tanks in total around the world. Of these, the United States had 1,830, ranking first in the world, while China perched in second with 429 think tanks.
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