Cheng Li, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, details the growing importance of think tanks in China in the China Leadership Monitor. Think tanks and so-called “super think tanks” are organizing conversations and international exchanges to better understand the global challenges that China will face in the coming years.
But he also notes that “in contrast to many of their counterparts in the West, where independence from the government is usually seen as a mark of credibility, Chinese think tanks often strive for strong ties to the government, and especially value a close connection with the upper stratum of the Chinese leadership.”
In the Think Tank Index published in Foreign Policy earlier this year, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences is listed as the number one think tank in Asia.
Photo from Greg Baker/Associated Press.
