Tapping more on brain power

Current weaknesses

During their recent expansion, most leading think tanks on the Chinese mainland regard their counterparts in the US as important partners and models.

The groups of the two nations have different environments and characteristics.

US think tanks develop in a bipartisan election environment. They are good at lobbying in mature relations between think tanks and the government or entrepreneurs. The communication channels among relevant parties are transparent and entrenched in the market.

They also have clear, stable and well-supervised financing sources. The developed media, technology and education sectors in the US ensure them global penetration, technological advantages and reliable research resources. The US' leading role in industries, finance, military and global political life provides them with a number of key subjects of global significance to study.

Most leading Chinese think tanks rely heavily on government finance and they may lag behind their US counterparts in terms of research standards, global influence and the use of media and advanced technology.

The private think tanks in the Chinese mainland are usually plagued by difficulties in funding, lack of channels to send their reports to the relevant authorities, and lack of channels in obtaining information from authoritative sources.

Some private think tanks also have to work with public relations groups to survive. Others may believe that private think tank researchers are inferior to those from government think tanks.

"Chinese think tanks lack an effective cooperation mechanism. Some of their research is not forward-looking and predictive, and do not analyze all possible solutions," said Li Junru, former president of the Party School of the Central Committee of CPC, one of the most important think tanks for the Party.

"The value of their research is affected by the lack of professional research talent. Think tanks should provide multiple dynamic solutions, rather than so-called standard answers," Li said.

Many think tanks in the Chinese mainland boast large research teams but there is a serious lack of middle-aged researchers, with teams commonly made up of young college graduates and led by several famous senior professors or retired government officials. Most of the research is actually conducted by the inexperienced members.

Han Fangming, chairman of Chahar Society, a civilian think tank on strategic studies set up in 2009 in Beijing, said: "The unbalanced personnel structure limits innovation in the research and intellectual openness in the results."

Language is a big obstacle. Many foreign think tanks say the Chinese think tanks' websites are not in English or not updated. It is difficult for Chinese think tanks, many of which lack English and international communication skills, to gain global influence.

There are also concerns that some think tanks may become nursing homes for retired senior officials and scholars, or clubs of economists to build personal connections with powerful government departments.

The university research centers have their problems too.

"Research by the university think tanks is often too academic and can hardly solve problems in practice," said Hu Bo, deputy professor of strategic studies with Peking University. Hu said that much of the research may be addressing old problems.

The media landscape in the Chinese mainland also influences the growth of think tanks, especially private and university think tanks, because the media is a major outlet for the think tanks to make their research results known to the government and the public, mostly in the form of research reports, because of their lack of channels to reach the relevant authorities.

That is why some think tanks like to hire media celebrities as their senior members. The Chongyang Institute of Financial Studies with Renmin University of China in Beijing employed Wang Wen, the opinion department head of the Global Times, a Chinese tabloid affiliated to the People's Daily, as its vice-director two years ago.

Some star anchors and reporters of State broadcaster China Central Television are also hired as part-time members of some private think tanks.

Frequent media exposure can effectively raise the think tanks' reputation. But as the Chinese mainland does not yet have a national law on the media, that gap may foster vicious competition among the media.

Some media outlets, especially online ones, are eager to increase their visibility at the cost of distorting facts and look for eye-catching research results from experts on some sensitive topics like food safety, environmental pollution and the income gap.

Some think tanks in financial difficulties tend to feed the media sensational research reports to increase their exposure. Therefore, a mutually beneficial partnership is formed between the media and the think tanks.

Some low-quality research reports are packaged and launched at well-chosen times. Apart from media sensationalism, these reports offer little value in solving practical problems or serving the public.