Opportunities for think tanks in the Chinese mainland

On Oct 27, at the sixth meeting of the Central Leading Group for Overall Reform, President Xi Jinping called for a new type of think tank. He said think tanks should have "Chinese characteristics", promote the country's modernization and governing system as well as strengthen its soft power.

Amid the Chinese mainland's economic transformation and restructuring, the government needs more professional consultation and suggestions on almost all key fields concerning the nation's development. Xi's remarks showed that the central authority is looking forward to seeing swift development of Chinese think tanks.

Han Fangming said: "The government should reform its institutions, making it easier for private think tanks to obtain finance, information and channels to reflect their research."

"Private think tanks should have the opportunity to obtain financial assistance from the government as well. Independence does not mean standing against the government or drifting apart from the government, but objective, impartial and professional research on worthy subjects," Wang Wen said.

The government should also promote cooperation and dialogue between government think tanks and private ones, said Zhou Chengkui, former deputy general secretary of the National People's Congress Standing Committee and a former researcher of law at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

"The government should reform the higher education system of the Chinese mainland to cultivate more young researchers for think tanks. They should have professional knowledge and techniques in relevant fields, innovative minds and keen interest to solve practical issues and commitment to serve the public. And most importantly, they should have independent thinking," Zhou said.

A main field for leading think tanks will be the Chinese mainland's initiatives of building the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, which were proposed by Xi in 2013 to promote regional integrity, trade and cooperation through helping other countries.

These two projects are of strategic importance for the Chinese mainland's sustainable economic development and global advancement. The government actively encourages Chinese enterprises to expand in the world.

The government and enterprises are in dire need of professional strategic and commercial consultation. As many major Chinese think tanks are run by the government, they are obliged to serve the government and State-owned enterprises' needs in their international endeavors.

The private think tanks should also divert more attention from home to abroad, a move to shun the State-run think tanks' domination of the think-tank market, identifying Chinese enterprises as their main customers.

In the long run, the Chinese government should encourage market competition in the think tank sector, which should not be classified as a State-owned industry like those in the railway and oil sectors, and instead tap think tanks' research through established and transparent channels.

"The development of the Chinese mainland's think-tank industry should be pushed by three powers jointly: the growth of civilian think tanks, the cooperation and introduction of foreign think tanks, and the reform and improvement of government think tanks," Han Fangming said.

The government should set up a State-level think-tank cooperation mechanism with developed countries to accelerate all-round exchanges, he said.

China's fast economic growth in the past 30 years stems from its market reform. Ronald Coase, a British Nobel Laureate in economics, in 2012 urged China to establish its market for ideas, so as to boost innovation needed by the nation.

The reform of the think-tank industry is the process of building such a market for ideas, as well as a process for think tanks from the Chinese mainland to integrate into the global arena.