Symposium on Global Think Tank Development and China’s Global Think Tanks

On Jun. 27th, 2014, a symposium on Global Think Tank Development and China’s International Think Tanks was held at the Beijing International Hotel.  The symposium was hosted by the Center for China and Globalization (CCG), the Think Tanks and Civil Societies Program (TTCSP) of the University of Pennsylvania, and co-organized by the School of Public Policy and Management of Tsinghua University as well as the People’s Publishing House.

Dr. James G. McGann, Director of TTCSP at the University of Pennsylvania, was invited to participate in the symposium. TTCSP conducts research on the role policy institutes play in governments and in civil societies around the world and has access to the most comprehensive database of over 6600 think tanks from 152 countries around the globe. TTCSP is the editor of Global Go To Think Tank Index Report, which compiles an annual report of top ranking think tanks exerting influence internationally. In the 2013 Global Go To Think Tank Index Report there were 6 Chinese think tanks ranking in the top tier. Meanwhile, TTCSP also provides insights and technical assistance for expanding the capabilities of think tanks in China and the world at large.

President of CCG, Dr. Wang Huiyao, a Senior Researcher from Harvard University and expert and writer on global think tanks,briefly introduced CCG’s engagement as a leading think tank and introduced the upcoming book Global Think Tanks. To date, the bookGlobal Think Tanks is the first edition in China dedicated to conducting long-term and in-depth comprehensive research on global think tanks around the world, to be compiled and published by the nationally authorized People’s Publishing House.

Founded in 2008, CCG, as a leading non-profit international think tank at home, has more than 50 professional research staff and employees, with branches in Beijing, Guangzhou, Qingdao, Shenzhen, HongKong and New York. Each year, CCG undertakes nearly 20 research projects locally and nationally, publishes up to 10 research books domestically, including four blue books featuring its national and international outreach, published by Social Sciences Academic Press, hosts dozens of forums and symposiums exerting influence domestically and globally. CCG is also internationally considered to be one of the first China’s think tanks to go global.

Attending the symposium was Prof. Zhu Xufeng from the School of Public Policy and Management of Tsinghua University and Visiting Senior Researcher of CCG and Mr. Hong Qiong, the Senior Editor of Global Think Tank.

Topics discussed at the symposium included the new trends, new features, new concepts and new data of global think tank development. Also discussed was how to build globalized think tanks and to facilitate the development and cooperation between China’s think tanks and global think tanks.

China’s think tanks are expanding in size and number at an increasingly fast pace. In April 2013, the CPC Secretary-General Mr. Xi Jinping, gave official instructions regarding how to build a think tank with Chinese characteristics, and mentioned the future construction of a new think tank with Chinese characteristics. In the beginning of 2014, it was shown in the globally recognized and influential TTCSP2013 Global Go To Think Tank Index Report that China’s think tanks numbered 426, only second to the United States with a number of 1826.