What the Mainland Media Say | Free thinking required to win the battle of the think tanks
Call to develop more domestic institutions may come to little if they must put their research second to political correctness
Echoing President Xi Jinping's call for a new type of Chinese think tank, the general offices of the party Central Committee and the State Council recently announced a plan to develop 50 to 100 "high-end" ones by 2020, which, they said, would compete with America in spreading soft power abroad and help refine policies at home.
China has the most think tanks after the United States, according to a ranking report by the University of Pennsylvania. But compared to their US counterparts - such as the Rand Corporation or Brookings Institution - domestic institutions have little global influence. Only six ranked among the top 100 worldwide, with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) ranked the highest at 20th.
Most state media outlets welcomed the council's announcement.
The People's Daily said Chinese think tanks lagged far behind their US and European counterparts in terms of both professionalism and funding.
Beijing Daily said the move was urgently needed, as China's think tanks either lacked views of their own or "exaggerated their views to gain attention".
The Global Times argued that China was "in dire need of strategies and suggestions" as it pushed through tough economic reform.
In the West, think tanks are playing an increasingly influential role in the formation and development of public policies at various levels of government and international organisations.