Tuesday, April 23, 2019

Think Tanks Helping Shape China's Belt and Road Initiative

China continues to ramp up its support for and creation of think tanks.  Here is more from Xinhua:

Preparation is complete for a thematic-forum on think tank exchanges to be held during the Second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, the organizers said Tuesday.
The think tank forum will be held at the China National Convention Center in Beijing on Thursday.
The event, hosted by the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, is organized by the China Center for International Economic Exchanges and the Xinhua Institute.
About 300 people will attend the thematic-forum, including former foreign politicians, representatives of international organizations, enterprises and financial institutions.
The forum will begin with an opening meeting and then be followed by two parallel sessions on think tanks and media, respectively.
The sessions will focus on four sub-topics: aligning development strategies and plans, building a fair, open and transparent system of international rules, promoting an inclusive world economy and building a community with a shared future for humanity.

Here is more about think tanks and the BRI.

In related news, the Chinese government has chided some think tanks, such as the US's Center for Global Development (CGD), for spreading what it says are "false accusations" about BRI.

Indeed, skepticism about BRI abounds in many Western think tanks.  For example, Amsterdam-based think tank European Foundation for South Asian Studies recently said that that BRI is not likely to work for Nepal.

The Beijing-based Pangoal Institution has just published a book on node countries' views of BRI.

South Korean lawyer Choi Jae Cheon has established his own think tank on BRI.

Update: The Belt and Road Studies Network, co-initiated by Xinhua Institute and 15 other think tanks, was inaugurated in Beijing.