Beijing kicked off a three-day Global Think Tank Summit on Wednesday evening, to showcase its newly established 'super think tank' - the China Centre for International Economic Exchanges (CCIEE).
The event, organised by the CCIEE, attracted a star-studded list of speakers including former European Commission president Romano Prodi, former United States secretary of state Henry Kissinger, secretary-general for the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development Supachai Panitchpakdi, Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, and senior officials from the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and oil-producers' cartel Opec.
Present and former central government officials also spoke, including Vice-Premier Li Keqiang, Central Bank chief Zhou Xiaochuan and Minister of Commerce Chen Deming. Hundreds of diplomats, academics, businessmen and think-tank representatives from around the world attended and Premier Wen Jiabao hosted guests at Zhongnanhai, the central government compound, on Wednesday evening.
However, to China watchers, the significance of the summit lies beyond the calibre and number of attendees, or what was discussed.
The CCIEE's announced goal on its establishment in March of becoming a world-class think tank with clout similar to the Brookings Institution in the United States created a buzz worldwide. Former vice-premier Zeng Peiyan heads the centre and it boasts a panel of vice-directors and advisers that includes some of the country's top economic and financial policy makers and industry moguls. Several Hong Kong names are on the list, including Chinese University of Hong Kong vice-chancellor Lawrence Lau Juen-yee and Li & Fung Group chairman Victor Fung Kwok-king.
CCIEE permanent vice-chairman Zheng Xinli was quoted by the People's Daily official newspaper as saying that 'for years China lacked a non-official communication channel between domestic and international think tanks, and we are in urgent need of building this new public relations channel to build China's soft power, and to exert our voice internationally'.