Chinese think tanks should change their role

Work experience in a think tank has been suggested as a compulsory requirement for officials ahead of promotion in a bid to establish better communication between the government and think tanks and boost the latter's development.

"The current one-way career path from some think tanks to a government department results in a difference in status of the two parts, and think tanks flatter the government when they give advice and suggestions in most cases while hardly putting forward objections," said the 2015 Chinese Think Tanks Report published by the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences on Wednesday.

The report also said the government should solicit more opinions on their decisions from think tanks in Party and government-affiliated agencies, scientific research institutes, colleges and those spontaneously formed by scholars, and make them not only an interpreter of new policies but also a guide in making policies and decisions.

The report unveiled an impact ranking of Chinese think tanks in the past year with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences taking first place followed by the Development Research Center of the State Council and Peking University, which came second and third.

Influential think tanks show great disparity in regional distribution, according to the report. Among those filling the first 15 places, 11 are based in Beijing, three in Shanghai and one in Jiangsu province.