Think tanks look beyond the box: Exchanges are crucial for understanding

By ZHANG WEIWEI,

director of the China Institute at Fudan University in Shanghai

Sunday, March 6, 2016 CHINA DAILY (Two Sessions Special Issue)

International exchanges and cooperation are crucial for us, as one of our research focuses is on the Chinese development model in global and comparative perspectives. We need to draw on the views of other countries through their think tanks and we also share our views with foreign think thanks to promote their better understanding of China’s dramatic rise.

An ideal relationship would be a mutually beneficial partnership between leading think tanks. This is true within many Chinese think tanks, and the same is true for our relations with some leading think tanks from other countries, especially on issues of mutual concern and interest.

The China Institute of Fudan University conducts extensive exchanges with think tanks in the Western as well as non Western world. For instance, last year we organized a joint conference with the Oxford China Center on China’s development model and Africa’s industrialization, and senior experts from China, Africa and Europe shared their perspectives on this important topic.

Last month, we sent a team to Egypt to hold talks with experts from the Al Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, one of Egypt’s leading think tanks, soon after President Xi Jinping’s state visit to Egypt, and they discussed China’s One Belt, One Road Initiative and its possible implications for Egypt and for the region. Our Egyptian friends have a lot of curiosity about and interest in China’s development model, especially after having experienced the fallout of the so called Arab Spring, and my book China Wave has been translated into Arabic and was well received there.

(Chen Kangling contributed to this story)