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Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

Keywords

high-end think tanks in social sciences, development course, prospective paths

Abstract

Reviewing the decade-long journey of building new-type think tanks with Chinese characteristics, under the guidance of national strategies, China’s think tank system has undergone a sequential evolution from top-level design and concept establishment, to system construction and comprehensive advancement, and finally to functional deepening and quality enhancement. It has achieved a phased leap from scale expansion to connotative improvement, fostering a healthy ecosystem where various comprehensive think tanks, professional think tanks, enterprise think tanks, and social think tanks develop with differentiated yet complementary and collaborative manner. This has realized a fundamental shift in the decision-making support function from “peripheral advice” to serving as “core strategic support”. The innovative measures taken by comprehensive high-end think tanks, represented by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, in matrix-style think tank cluster construction, “organized research” models, and the transformation of digital-intelligent research paradigms, provide a reliable empirical anchor for reflecting on the overall development of think tanks. This study further examines and distills the common challenges currently facing think tank development, such as weak systematic research capabilities, overlapping ecological niches, the one-dimensionality of the evaluation systems, and impeded talent mobility. In response, it argues that new-type think tanks with Chinese characteristics must achieve a critical leap from “big think tanks” to “strong think tanks” by strengthening fundamental and systematic research capabilities, optimizing differentiated ecological niche layouts, and improving the “revolving door” mechanism for talent mobility.

First page

909

Last Page

920

Language

Chinese

Publisher

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences

References

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