The Construction Practice of Local New Think Tanks in the New Era-Zhang Xiaodan, Gao Hongcun|National (China) Think Tank

The Construction Practice of Local New Think Tanks in the New Era-Zhang Xiaodan, Gao Hongcun|National (China) Think Tank

(Administrative Reform Zhang Xiaodan Gao Hongcun Editor-Zang Mengya) News China News Gathering and Editing Network China Entrepreneur Mobile News Seeking Research • China Think Tank Network National Research Politics - Economic Information Research Think Tank • China National Policy Research Forum • China National Conditions Research Forum • China National Conditions Research Association Association • All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce Economic and Information Research • China Economy and Informatization Seeking Arguments • China Entrepreneurs Forum Philosophers and Business Dialogue, China Confucian Entrepreneurs Conference Winning in Business • China Marketing Planning Healthy China - Big Health Pharmaceutical Industry Forum Editing and Editing:

"In recent years, new progress has been made in the construction of new local think tanks in terms of capacity level, system construction and influence, but there are problems such as the systematic construction of multiple and multi-category think tanks that are mainly affected by the career-oriented system, the low degree of accurate matching between the decision-making demand and the supply of think tank services, the lag of the digital construction of think tanks, the lack of overall management and coordinated development mechanism of think tanks, and the lack of exchanges and cooperation, resulting in low international influence. Wan Xiangjun, member of the Executive Committee of the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce, director of the China Economic and Information Research Center, and director of the China National Conditions Research Center of the National Policy Research Office, explained.

Mapping the Study of Chinese Think Tanks: A Dialogue with Chinese Think Tanks, National Think Tanks, and the State (China Think Tanks). Wan Xiangjun said: "To this end, Zhang Xiaodan and Gao Hongcun of the Administrative Reform Center wrote an article "Practical Progress and Path Exploration of the Construction of Local New Think Tanks in the New Era", which shows that the construction of local information think tanks needs to give full play to the functions of think tank organizations with different attributes.

It focuses on strengthening the goal-orientation of think tanks to accurately serve local development needs, actively building a digital think tank platform that realizes the combination of resource interconnection and decision-making, strengthening the coordination and mutual promotion of exchanges among domestic think tanks, and enhancing the international influence of local think tanks through project cooperation and systematic communication, so as to systematically improve the construction capacity of think tanks, so as to achieve the high-quality development of new local think tanks.

[Keywords] New Local Think Tanks;Progress;Problems;Paths [CLC Number] D63 [Document Identification Code] A [Article Number] 1674-7453(2023)07-0076-10 @ State Information Center, China Economic Information Agency, China Economic and Information Research, National Research Political Information and Economic Information Think Tank, National Research Political Information (Shandong) Economic Information Co., Ltd. News China, China News Gathering and Editing!

The new type of think tank is an important intellectual support for local governments to cope with the complex governance situation, improve local governance capabilities, and realize the development of local industrial characteristics and economic leap. The "new type of local think tank" is to innovate in terms of ideology, organizational form, operation mechanism, management mode, system and norms, etc., to provide intellectual support for local government decision-making and promote local economic and social development.

The new local think tanks are mainly composed of research offices of party committees and governments at all levels, internal research institutions of government departments, social science research institutions such as the Academy of Social Sciences and Party schools (School of Administration), research institutions within colleges and universities, strategic research offices (departments) within enterprises[1] and social think tanks. As the think tank of the government, the local think tank is a typical practice of policy process theory and policy network theory.

Public policy occurs in various networks formed by many interdependent subjects, and the decision-making and implementation of policies involve different organizations such as governments (including different departments), social organizations, and international organizations, among which think tanks are an important part of social organizations, and they are also an important force that coordinates different policy network subjects, influences the process of policy formation, and promotes the final formulation and implementation of policies.

Based on the realities and problems of local economic and social development, the intergovernmental networks and professional networks of the Roots and Marsh models in the policy network theory of local think tanks use the knowledge of researchers from relevant government agencies, universities, scientific research institutions and other professionals to enlighten or expand the existing knowledge base of policymakers, which gradually leads to the transformation of conceptual thinking, which then leads to the emergence of policies that support such conceptual thinking,[2] It is the think tank talents who use knowledge to connect with local development issues, provide information and government service solutions, and promote local governments to continuously improve the level of scientific decision-making.

Improving local governance capacity requires local think tanks to play a greater role. In order for local governments to promote local development, solve the problems of supplying talents and resources and other systems and policies, and resolve the challenges of risk governance, think tanks urgently need to better play the role of information and government services. Local think tanks are familiar with the local development process and the causes of problems, and have a variety of talents who are close to the actual development needs and participate in the practice of local information and governance, which plays an important role in finding solutions to local development problems and promoting local sustainable development.

In the new era, local think tanks have made important progress under the guidance of the state, but they are also facing problems at different levels, which require systematic innovation and in-depth promotion of the scientific development of new local think tanks.

1. The simultaneous improvement of "quantity" and "quality" highlights the development effectiveness of local new think tanks

Under the attention and guidance of the state, progress has been made in the construction of local think tanks, which is reflected in the improvement of the ability level, the improvement of the think tank system and the improvement of domestic and foreign influence.

(1) The number of think tanks and high-quality achievements have both increased, highlighting the improvement of the level of ability

The construction of local think tanks not only shows a steady upward trend in terms of quantity, but also reflects the continuous improvement of the level of think tank information and research capabilities in terms of high-quality output, which provides strong support for local economic development and scientific decision-making of the government.

1. The number of think tanks is growing steadily year by year. In 2013, it issued an instruction that "with the development of the situation, the role of think tanks will become more and more important",[3] emphasizing the important role of think tank construction. The Decision of the Central Committee on Several Major Issues Concerning Comprehensively Deepening Reform, adopted at the Third Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, further emphasized the need to "strengthen the construction of new think tanks with Chinese characteristics, establish and improve the decision-making consultation system", and think tanks have become an important force to promote the modernization of the national governance system and governance capacity, and are also an important "think tank" for local governments to improve governance efficiency.

In 2015, the Office of the CPC Central Committee and the Office of the State Council issued the "Opinions on Strengthening the Construction of New Think Tanks with Chinese Characteristics", which systematically put forward the construction plan of a new type of think tank system with Chinese characteristics for the first time, setting a benchmark and direction for local governments to promote the construction of think tanks.

Actively promote the construction and development of think tanks, especially represented by provincial key construction and provincial cultivation of think tanks, the number of which continues to grow, and formed a peak in 2017 (as shown in Table 1), which fully reflects the importance of local governments to the functions of think tanks in promoting local development and improving scientific government decision-making.

Provincial key think tank, The year of the incubation of the think tank was announced	Province (autonomous region, municipality directly under the Central Government)	quantity	total
2015	Jiangsu Province	10	25
Hunan Province	7
Jilin Province	8
2016	Jiangsu Province	16	42
Anhui Province	15
Hubei Province	11
2017	Hebei Province	18	111
Yunnan Province	30
Guangdong Province	15
Heilongjiang Province	20
Sichuan Province	22
Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region	3
Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region	3
2018	Zhejiang Province	21	94
Shandong Province	15
Liaoning Province	27
Jiangxi Province	17
Beijing	14
2020	Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region	31	94
Chongqing Municipality	22
Shanghai	26
Fujian Province	15

Table 1: Distribution of key think tanks and cultivated think tanks in each province (autonomous region, municipality) by year. Source: Think Tank Research Center, Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences: China Think Tank Report (2020-2021) (unpublished).

2. High-quality information services and scientific research capabilities have been continuously improved. With the development of think tank construction, local think tanks have achieved certain results in their information and government functions and scientific research achievements. The journals created by the think tank have become an important link between scholars, experts and government decision-makers, producing a series of research results, focusing on the major and difficult issues of local construction and development.

Taking the Think Tank Research Center of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences as an example, the "Shanghai New Think Tank Special Report" created by it is not only a platform for presenting the achievements of think tanks, but also an important channel for expressing scholars to solve economic construction, social construction, ideological and cultural construction, public opinion analysis, international issues, etc. through the mechanism of direct reporting to the Shanghai Municipal Party Committee and Municipal Government, "From 2016 to 2019, the Shanghai New Think Tank Special Newspaper published a total of 335 issues, 93 leadership instructions, and 55 copies were adopted by the General Office of the Municipal Party Committee.

Among them, a total of 60 issues were published in 2019, and 24 articles and 25 batches were approved by leaders at or above the provincial and ministerial level",[4]"In 2021, a total of 4 think tank achievements of Yanshan University were approved by provincial leaders, 3 were approved by deputy provincial leaders, and 11 were adopted as suggestions by Hebei Provincial National People's Congress and submitted to the 13th National People's Congress. ”。 [5] The leader's instructions and the proportion of their number fully demonstrate the full affirmation of the achievements and development of the think tank.

In terms of scientific research achievements, think tanks give full play to the strength of research institutes, actively conduct research on problems encountered in local development, and continuously accumulate scientific research achievements through major national topics, important academic journal papers and works of famous publishing houses, so as to promote the continuous development of think tank construction. Taking Guizhou University's high-end think tank of grassroots social governance innovation as an example, it focuses on three research areas: "Civilization Practice and Rural Governance Innovation in the New Era", "Rural Green Governance and Industrial Transformation and Upgrading", and "Digital Reform and Grassroots Governance Modernization".

He has presided over more than 20 projects of the National Social Science Foundation, published more than 50 signed papers in important academic journals at home and abroad, and published more than 10 books in well-known publishing houses at home and abroad,[6] one of which won the special prize of the 2022 New Think Tank Governance Forum. The Think Tank Research Center of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, Yanshan University and Guizhou University are high-end think tanks for grassroots social governance innovation in Guizhou, which are constantly developing in terms of information and government services and scientific research, and are practicing the goals and missions of think tanks to serve the local economy and solve practical development problems.

(2) A think tank system with diverse types and comprehensive development has taken shape

The development of local think tanks has gradually formed a systematization, which not only includes the different attribute types of think tanks, but also continuously covers multiple think tank fields, and initially forms a comprehensive think tank system.

1. The types of think tanks with different attributes are gradually improved. Party and government departments, scientific research institutes and university think tanks are the main force of local think tanks, which play an important role in consulting, guiding and promoting local government decision-making and promoting local economic and social development. Local governments are also actively developing think tanks with different attributes such as social think tanks and enterprise think tanks, such as Baidu Research Institute and Ali Research Institute, which rely on enterprise development, to combine the advantages of enterprise development with regional development, and rely on their own research capabilities to help enterprises and local governments achieve common development.

At the same time, there are also types of think tanks such as military think tanks and media think tanks, which together constitute a think tank system with diverse attributes, providing multiple perspectives for local government decision-making and improving the democratic and scientific nature of local government decision-making.

2. The research field of think tanks has gradually and systematically deepened. In the process of building local think tanks, they continue to cover all fields of economic and social development, and promote think tanks to play a more comprehensive role in information and scientific research as a whole. The types of think tanks such as economic, social development, science and technology, culture, ecology, education, regional, and comprehensive have been gradually improved, and at the same time, think tanks have also focused on or improved research in corresponding fields according to local and domestic realities. On the whole, the research field of local think tanks is constantly enriched and sound, and has become a three-dimensional intellectual support for the all-round development of the local government.

(3) The influence of think tanks at home and abroad has been significantly improved

The sustainable development of local think tanks has promoted the improvement of government decision-making capabilities, and has also promoted the development of international cooperation projects through the international exchange of think tanks, continuously demonstrating the improvement of international discourse.

1. Local think tanks actively play a role as a link to promote the government's scientific decision-making. With the construction and development of local think tanks, government decision-making has gradually changed from a single government-led to the joint participation of multiple subjects, and a democratic and scientific decision-making mode has gradually formed. Local think tanks have actively explored and built multiple and three-dimensional information channels such as websites, microblogs, WeChat, and short videos, and published important research reports and expert opinions, which have become an important way to interpret policies to the public.

The influence of think tanks in various regions has been continuously enhanced, especially with university think tanks and local party and government/scientific research institute think tanks as the main force, forming a think tank brand with regional influence and becoming an important "think tank" for government decision-making. Think tanks promote the gradual construction of a mechanism for the expression of multiple interests and a rational public opinion environment, promote the in-depth promotion of scientific and democratic government policy decision-making, enhance and deepen the public's understanding of specific social issues and their policy formulation, and enhance the public's cooperation and supervision of the implementation of government policies.

2. Growing international influence. International exchanges and international trade are important ways to promote local economic development, and local think tanks actively explore, participate in international conferences, conduct special research and research, and provide important intellectual support for local governments to strengthen transnational economic and trade cooperation and promote regional development.

For example, the Hainan Institute of Free Trade Port with Chinese Characteristics has held international conferences such as the "Seminar on Policy and System Exchange and Mutual Learning between Hainan Free Trade Port and Jeju International Free City", "Hainan-Singapore Online Expert Seminar" and "International Forum on Hainan Free Trade Port and Southeast Asian Regional Cooperation" to build a platform for exchanges and cooperation between Hainan Free Trade Port and South Korea, Singapore and other countries, and at the same time discuss the feasibility of transnational cooperation and promote the standardized and fair development of transnational economic and trade cooperation.

2. Problems restricting the in-depth development of the new local think tank system

Although the construction of new local think tanks has made phased achievements, it still faces shortcomings that affect its in-depth development, which are manifested in institutional constraints, mismatch between supply and demand in decision-making, imperfect digital construction, isolated development and insufficient international dissemination, etc., which need to be solved in depth and systematically to promote the sustainable development of local new think tanks.

(1) Focusing on the business-oriented system, influencing the systematic construction of multiple types of think tanks

The process of building new local think tanks is still dominated by the professional system, and the functions and roles of social and enterprise think tanks have not been fully mobilized and brought into play, which has affected the maturity and efficacy of the new local think tank system to a certain extent.

1. Public institution think tanks occupy a dominant position. In the process of think tank construction, local party and government/scientific research institute think tanks and university think tanks are the leading role, and the public institution system is adopted, which restricts the service function of think tanks in decision-making and consultation to a certain extent. The construction of think tanks needs to fully mobilize the enthusiasm of think tank experts, and the fixed and passive institutional mechanism of public institutions conflicts with the active and flexible development needs of think tanks, which is not conducive to stimulating the potential of think tanks in terms of information and scientific research capabilities, and realizing the continuous improvement of information and scientific research achievements.

For example, the Institute of Cultural Heritage and Innovation of Peking University (Fuzhou) (hereinafter referred to as "Fuzhou Institute of Culture and Creativity"), jointly established by the People's Government of Fuzhou City, Jiangxi Province and Peking University, is a characteristic attempt by the Fuzhou Municipal Party Committee and Municipal Government to introduce "external brains" in the process of building a new type of local think tank.

At the same time, due to the attributes of its public institutions and the needs of the government, Fuzhou Institute of Culture and Innovation is positioned as a comprehensive think tank, covering many fields, focusing on highlighting high-end comprehensive characteristics, but the actual precision and specialization are insufficient, and it is difficult to form its own comparative advantages.

2. The function of social and enterprise think tanks in information and government services is insufficient. In the process of promoting the construction of new think tanks at the local level, the number of social and enterprise think tanks is much smaller than that of party and government/scientific research institute think tanks and university think tanks, which highlights to a certain extent that although local think tanks have established a think tank system with multiple attributes, the construction degree of social think tanks is obviously insufficient, and they cannot give full play to the objective position and active and flexible role of social think tanks.

According to the data of the Think Tank Research Center of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences from 2020 to 2021, the number of provincial key think tanks and cultivated think tanks in the country only accounts for 9% of the think tanks of local party and government/scientific research institutes and university think tanks.

(2) The precise matching between decision-making demand and think tank service supply is low

Due to the low accuracy of local think tank information and government services, as well as the conversion rate and implementation of think tank results, the supply and service of think tank information and government cannot truly meet the government's policy decision-making needs, resulting in the mismatch between supply and demand between think tanks and the government, and hindering the improvement of the government's scientific decision-making efficiency.

1. The low accuracy of information and government services affects the quality of think tank results. However, at this stage, local think tanks have significant problems of mismatch and inaccuracy between government decision-making needs and think tank service supply, and the quality, variety, and category of research results of most local think tanks do not match and coordinate with decision-making needs, forward-looking and reserve research needs to be improved, predictive and countermeasure research is not advanced enough, and there is a lack of long-term and in-depth field investigations.

The mismatch and inaccuracy of supply and demand in decision-making not only affect the scientific decision-making of the government, but also hinder the significant growth of the think tank's own information and scientific research capacity building.

2. The effective transformation and execution of think tank achievements are weak. The outstanding achievements produced by local think tanks, especially those that have been approved by the leadership, are highly scientific and implementable, but most of the excellent achievements of think tanks are absorbed into relevant government documents, and have not been truly implemented and achieved actual social results. It is necessary to effectively connect the results of think tanks with the implementation mechanism of policy implementation, promote the role of guiding practice of think tank achievements and solving major and difficult problems in society.

(3) The digital construction of think tanks is lagging behind

The digital construction of think tanks is an important way to improve the research, operation and management capabilities of think tanks, but the overall level of digital construction of local think tanks is not high, and the use of digital platforms and digital systems to improve the development of think tanks needs to be deepened.

1. Insufficient capacity for digital platform construction. "There is a significant gap between the websites of mainland think tanks and the websites of American think tanks in terms of the number of document links, the number of external and internal links, the total number of links, and the total number of web pages",[7] and the lack of "continuous updating of existing research results, failure to build a characteristic resource library, and neglect of the construction of a digital resource cooperation mechanism"[8] are prominent problems in the digital construction of local think tanks.

Most think tank institutions have not carried out the digital integration of think tank resources, most think tanks are still stuck in the traditional management model, and the digital management and innovation process of think tanks is slow.

2. The digital system does not play an auxiliary research function. The digital system can help think tanks screen and integrate relevant information and conduct special and in-depth research on the problems faced by local development. However, most local think tanks have not formed a research function that uses digital systems to assist research, or passively accept project commissions, or rely on subjective analysis to conduct corresponding research, and have not formed a research method that complements subjectivity and objectivity, and artificial and intelligence, which restricts the improvement of think tank research efficiency.

(4) The overall management and coordinated development mechanism of think tanks are insufficient

The communication between local think tanks and think tanks is weak, and there is less collaborative research, and there is no way to cooperate and promote development.

1. The organizational function of the overall management think tank has not been fully utilized. To promote the construction of think tanks at the local level, especially in the process of building a think tank system, it is necessary to clarify the think tank organizations that coordinate and play a practical role, and carry out unified management of think tanks. However, in the management of local think tanks, the organization of overall management is either in a vacant state, or in a state of being established but not playing an actual role, and does not really play the role of the overall management body in terms of direction, goals, tasks, supervision and evaluation, etc., and does not form a truly scientific overall management mode, which affects the overall sustainable development of local think tanks.

2. Lack of necessary exchanges and cooperation between think tanks. Due to the lack of active communication and cooperation between think tanks, especially the lack of a fixed exchange and cooperation mechanism between think tanks with overlapping research fields or highly related research fields, it affects the communication between think tanks on specific related topics, thereby reducing the quality of research and causing a waste of researchers' energy and time.

(5) Insufficient exchanges and cooperation lead to low international influence

The research focus of local think tanks often focuses on the region, and lacks an international vision, which leads to problems such as insufficient exchange and cooperation and simplification of communication methods, which affects the dissemination of regional think tank achievements and the improvement of international influence.

1. Insufficient "internal and external" cooperation affects information exchange and sharing. Local think tanks focus their research content and information services on the region, rarely participate in relevant foreign conferences, and lack relevant exchange and cooperation opportunities, which restricts think tanks from examining local development from an international perspective and forming high-quality research results.

2. Lack of diversified external communication methods. With the development of digital technology, diversified communication methods have also appeared frequently, and short videos, microblogs, WeChat and other communication means and methods have become a new position for the public to obtain information, but the communication methods of local think tanks are still dominated by traditional methods such as newspapers and television, and the lack of practice of disseminating their own voices abroad through new media and relying on the open platform of the Internet is not conducive to forming a greater influence and disseminating the unique views of Chinese researchers.

3. The path for new local think tanks to achieve high-quality development

The construction of new local think tanks needs to be systematically promoted through innovation, and efforts should be made to solve the problems existing in the construction of think tanks and promote the high-quality development of think tanks from the aspects of multi-attribute organizations, characteristic and precise services, building digital platforms, establishing new think tank alliances, and enhancing international influence.

(1) Give full play to the functions of think tank organizations with different attributes

In the process of exploring the construction of new types of think tanks, local governments should promote the formation of a new type of think tank system with characteristics that coordinates the development of multi-attribute organizations and institutions of party and government departments, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, the Party School (School of Administration), colleges and universities, the military, scientific research institutes and enterprises, and social think tanks, give full play to the characteristics of each attribute institution, and form a think tank development pattern with complementary advantages, outstanding characteristics, and diverse types.

1. Continue to play the role of directly subordinate public institutions. The nature of a think tank of a directly subordinate institution has formed a close relationship with the government, and it has also undertaken a relatively large number of senior administrative tasks, so it is necessary to continue to play the role of a directly subordinate institution. The first is to give full play to the decision-making research service function of the policy research office of government agencies. Establish corresponding policy research offices according to different functional institutions, strengthen the policy research and information management capabilities of government agencies, give full play to their advantages of being close to the actual decision-making, concentrate on the specific policy research urgently needed for local government decision-making, and continuously enhance the pertinence and timeliness;

Drawing on the research methods and advantages of non-governmental think tanks, we will expand the research plan from the short term to the medium term, expand the scope of research, and improve the scientific and feasibility of information and government service capabilities and countermeasures. The second is to pay attention to the function of the party school (School of Administration) think tank information and government service. The basic task of the Party School (School of Administration) is to carry out research on major theoretical and practical issues, and to undertake decision-making consulting services for Party committees and governments.

Local party schools (administrative colleges) should pay more attention to the construction and development of the functions of information and government services, give full play to the advantages of exchange and cooperation among students, carry out in-depth cooperative research on specific government topics, and take the quantity and quality of information and government reports as an important indicator of assessment and evaluation, so as to stimulate the ability of researchers to provide information and government. The third is to rely on the professional research advantages of colleges and universities to promote local economic and social development.

Give full play to the advantages of specialization of disciplines, high-quality researchers and deep theoretical foundation of colleges and universities, carry out forward-looking and strategic research, actively start from the practical problems of local development, continuously improve the ability of professional theory and development practice, promote university think tanks to serve local economic and social development more and more deeply, and improve the ability of colleges and universities to provide information and government services.

2. Enhance the scientific and democratic decision-making and consultation with the mode of private assistance. The private office assistance model is that the government provides part of the financial support, and the private think tank solves the remaining source of funds through operation. The model of private assistance allows think tanks to have more autonomy, and think tanks can choose relevant fields to conduct research and information services according to their own research directors, and their flexibility is greater than that of institutions with the attributes of public institutions.

To actively support the development of think tank organizations in the private office assistance model, the first is to set up special funds to ensure the necessity. For private government-assisted think tanks, special funds should be set up to provide basic guarantee support for the development of think tanks. Through the form of commissioned projects, it provides diversified and necessary funding guarantee channels for private office-assisted think tanks, and effectively combines financial support with scientific research and government.

The second is to build open and fair bidding channels. When selecting research units for major government research projects through open bidding, it is necessary to treat private office-assisted think tanks and public institution-type think tanks equally, and encourage private-level office-assisted think tanks to give full play to their professional advantages and targeted and strategic information and government service capabilities.

3. Pay attention to the characteristics of the company-based enterprise think tank and give full play to the diversified information and government functions. The company-based enterprise think tank is not only a think tank for enterprise development, but also an important practitioner to promote local development, and promoting the development of enterprise think tank has an important role in promoting local economy and government decision-making. The first is to guide enterprises to pay attention to the study of information and governance. Enterprises stand at the forefront of local development, have a deeper understanding of local development in specific fields, and should give full play to the advantages of enterprises to understand the locality, combined with their own development needs and outstanding problems of local social development, to provide countermeasures and advice for government decision-making.

Second, it is necessary to adhere to an objective and scientific standpoint. Enterprises should adhere to an objective stance and proceed from the overall situation of the local government, not limited to the enterprises themselves, form scientific and transparent information management suggestions, and promote the common development of local governments and enterprises. The third is to cultivate the characteristic research brand of enterprise think tanks. Enterprises are in-depth practitioners and researchers in specific industries, and should pay attention to combining the advantages of enterprise development, forming a characteristic research brand, forming a regional competitive and influential think tank brand, and gradually improving the information and research strength of enterprise think tanks.

(2) Focus on strengthening the goal orientation of think tanks to accurately serve local development needs

Local economic and social development is special due to its location, resource endowment and other factors, think tanks should focus on local advantages, highlight local cultural characteristics, stimulate industrial development potential, put forward precise solutions to practical development problems, clarify specific issues of future development direction, and help enhance the competitiveness of regional economy, culture and society.

1. Based on the characteristics of local resources, make suggestions and suggestions for promoting the development of local characteristic industries. The advantages of local characteristic resources are an important premise and foundation for promoting the formation of local advantages and promoting the development of characteristic industries.

The first is to accurately grasp the research direction of local resources to form characteristics and promote the development of local characteristic industries. Local think tanks should combine local resources, regional industrial layout and national strategic guidance, identify the direction of characteristic research, and create characteristic industries that highlight local advantages. Taking the construction of local think tanks in Guangxi as an example, combined with the cultural types of Guangxi Guibei culture, Zhuang culture, marine culture and other cultural types, the "Guixue" characteristic cultural think tank institutions represented by Guangxi Guixue Research Association, Guangxi Normal University, Guangxi Institute of Education, Wuzhou University, etc.

In line with the development needs and unique geographical location of the "Belt and Road" initiative, it has formed an open and characteristic research institution represented by the "Belt and Road" Research Institute of the Party School of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Committee of the Communist Party of China, the Southeast Asian Economic and Political Research Center of the Guangxi Federation of Social Sciences, and the China-ASEAN Regional Development Collaborative Innovation Center. The construction of local think tanks in Guangxi fully reflects the combination of local advantages and strategic orientation, forms the corresponding research direction of local think tank characteristics, forms an industrial type with "Gui culture" as the core, promotes international exchanges and cooperation relying on the "Belt and Road" strategy, and provides intellectual support.

The second is to focus on providing intellectual support for the government to build an industrial structure with prominent characteristic industries and coordinated related industries. The development of characteristic industries needs the support of related industries, and local think tanks should focus on strengthening the research on related industries such as producer services, especially how to promote the linkage development of regional industries and realize the industrial linkage effect. Think tanks should form systematic solutions to promote the development of local characteristic industries on the basis of in-depth research.

2. Accurately meet the development needs of local governments. As think tanks serving local governments, local think tanks need to assist local governments in coping with complex and changeable governance problems, put forward concrete, practical, pragmatic and accurate solutions, and provide important intellectual support for the improvement of local governance capabilities. The first is to ensure accuracy from all aspects of research.

In the process of "clarifying positioning, matching needs, carrying out research, and proposing countermeasures"[9], we have always adhered to the principle and direction of precision, and maintained the docking with the needs of the government from the positioning of research to countermeasures, so as to put forward practical solutions to practical problems. The second is to make corresponding adjustments according to the changes of the times.

Local development should be considered and studied under the general pattern and trend of the development of the whole country and even the world, and in a timely manner according to the latest trend of economic development, combined with outstanding emergencies, the formation of cutting-edge and strategic, adjustable and feasible information and government plans and scientific research results, to provide valuable decision-making reference for local governments.

(3) Actively build a digital think tank platform that realizes the combination of resource interconnection and decision-making

Digitalization is the trend of economic and social development, and the in-depth transformation of the digital society requires making full use of digital technology to build a digital platform, integrating think tank resources, breaking information silos, realizing information connectivity, actively promoting think tanks to use digital technology for screening and research, promoting the digital process reengineering of local governments, and improving governance efficiency.

1. Build a digital platform with rich content and resource sharing. Build a digital platform for think tanks with rich and diverse content to realize resource sharing and interconnection. The first is to establish a database that connects the resources of think tanks with multiple attributes. Establish a database containing the scientific research results of local party and government/scientific research institute think tanks, university think tanks, social think tanks and enterprise think tanks, realize the multi-type integration of resources, and promote the sharing of resources and learning exchanges between different think tanks.

The second is to develop thematic databases. On the basis of the large database of achievements of think tanks with different attributes, a special database is established for the characteristic industry categories of local development and the major and difficult problems of social development, and the data resources are sorted out and summarized in depth and specifically, so as to "realize the correlation from 'thin data' to 'thick data'" [10], and provide a rich and professional resource base for future research and information services.

The third is to build a mechanism for joint construction and sharing. Adhering to the principle of openness and sharing of databases, we implement an open approach for all types of think tanks, build a scientific use and management method, and ensure the security of data under open sharing. For example, the construction of the basic database of new think tanks in Guizhou Province has realized the collection of information on the basic situation of various types of think tanks, information on institutions and scholars, research results and other information in Guizhou Province, and provided an important foundation and prerequisite for the integration and sharing of various resources of think tanks in Guizhou Province.

At the same time, the basic database of new think tanks in Guizhou Province provides classified retrieval based on the pages of think tank scholars, think tank institutions and think tank achievements, which provides an important reference for mutual understanding, exchange and research on differences between think tanks in the province.

2. Give full play to the advantages of big data intelligent research on the think tank platform. The establishment of the think tank database provides a large amount of data for different think tank institutions and governments, and the data has both meaningful value and tool value, so it is necessary to make full use of the value of the database and use it in think tank information and scientific research. The first is to use the database to evaluate the significance of the research.

Using digital technology means, combined with the type, quantity, and classification of database resources to match with the needs of real development, relevant topics with research significance are clarified. The second is to use the database for functional analysis. Relying on the database screening and analysis function, the framework of the research problem is determined, and then combined with the big data algorithm to match, a scientific solution is obtained.

3. Promote the improvement of government governance capacity through digital platforms. The digital platform of think tanks should be connected and connected with the government management platform, form a close relationship with government decision-making and management, and promote the government to understand the main research directions and important research results through the digital platform of think tanks, and form a relatively clear direction of project entrustment. At the same time, it promotes the government to manage think tanks with digital platforms, promotes the digital reconstruction of government management processes, and promotes the improvement of management efficiency and the scientific and standardized development of management.

(4) Strengthen coordination and cooperation among domestic think tanks and promote exchanges with each other

Local think tanks should strengthen their contact and cooperation with each other, and form a common promotion of coordinated development by building a new type of think tank alliance and actively communicating with other countries.

1. Establish a think tank alliance to strengthen the connection between local think tanks. With local propaganda departments taking the lead, establish a think tank alliance with the participation of local think tanks of different attributes and types, and strengthen the connection, exchange and cooperation between think tank institutions. Actively promote the establishment of a mechanism for coordination and cooperation between think tanks, and do a good job in the integration of resources of different think tank institutions. The first is to establish a think tank coordination and cooperation mechanism based on project cooperation.

It is necessary to rely on the relevance of the project and the content to build a collaborative research model, and strengthen the exchange, collaboration and cooperation between think tanks related to the project. The cooperation of think tank institutions can be in the same field or across fields, both official and non-governmental, and on the basis of exploring and forming a benign interactive relationship between various local think tanks, it is necessary to gather the development synergy of various local think tanks and promote the in-depth promotion of cooperative research and information and government services.

The second is to establish a joint conference mechanism for decision-making consultation. Establish a joint meeting mechanism for decision-making and consultation with the participation of all institutions of the think tank alliance, discuss and evaluate the phased results, final results, and information reports formed by the research of the project, conduct further research on the scientificity and feasibility of the information administration, and promote in-depth exchanges and cooperation among think tank organizations through cooperation, consultation and evaluation.

Taking the Shandong Think Tank Alliance as an example, since its establishment in August 2015 initiated by the Shandong Academy of Social Sciences, the Shandong Think Tank Alliance has focused on the practical problems of economic and social development in Shandong Province, through the establishment of a special think tank project for the provincial social science planning project, the establishment of a decision-making consultation achievement award system, and the creation of the "Taishan Think Tank Forum" brand. Promote cooperation among alliance members.

and realize the sharing of resources and results. The alliance has gradually improved its ability to serve the decision-making ability of the party committee and government, and the influence of the alliance itself has been promoted, and the alliance has grown from more than 20 units to more than 50,[11] and the aggregation effect of the alliance has been continuously highlighted.

2. Strengthen exchanges and cooperation with different types of think tanks outside the region. Local think tanks should pay attention to maintaining exchanges and cooperation with other regional think tanks and even foreign think tanks, and rely on think tank alliances to establish a regular exchange mechanism for think tank institutions. On the one hand, we will introduce typical experiences and share research results. Form a regular exchange and meeting mechanism, invite think tanks from relevant developed provinces with outstanding research results to go to the local area to share research horizons and experience in information and government services, and use "excellent cases" and "typical experiences" as guidance to provide local relevant think tank institutions with richer visions, more diverse ideas and broader upside.

On the other hand, we should actively "go out" and promote in-depth exchanges. Encourage outstanding local think tank institutions to actively participate in national and national think tank seminars, expand different forms such as special dialogues between newspapers and periodicals, new media roundtables, etc., promote extensive and in-depth exchanges with different think tank institutions outside the region, and deepen their understanding of relevant research topics.

(5) Enhance the international influence of local think tanks through project cooperation and systematic communication

Give full play to the geographical advantages of local think tanks, rely on international cooperation projects and actively build a multi-level external communication system, and promote the international influence and discourse power of local think tanks.

1. Rely on strategic cooperation projects to enhance the international discourse power of think tanks. It is necessary to take advantage of geographical advantages and rely on the country's major foreign exchange and cooperation strategies to promote the influence and discourse power of local think tanks. Actively take advantage of international strategies such as the Belt and Road Initiative and important international summits, such as the "Eight Common Actions" proposed by the China-Arab States Summit in 2022;

Create more topics for think tank research, on the basis of in-depth research, disseminate the views of local think tanks through international conferences and specific international cooperation projects, promote research results, enhance the international influence of local think tanks, and enhance the guidance and decision-making power of think tanks to participate in projects in the process of in-depth cooperation, and gradually enhance the international discourse power.

2. Build a sound external communication system. Through the innovation of external communication channels, communication methods, and institutional mechanisms, we will gradually improve the external communication system and enhance the influence of external communication. The first is to pay attention to the potential of new media communication. Rely on overseas new media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Tiktok to promote and attract the attention of foreign audiences.

The second is to pay attention to the localization innovation of cross-cultural communication content. Understand and respect the cognitive expression habits of audiences in various countries, adopt narratives and viewpoint expressions that are easily accepted by local audiences, and reduce content bias between context transitions. The third is to promote local think tanks to "go global" through institutional and mechanism innovation. "Broaden the communication channels and information capture channels for local 'going out', and simplify the approval procedures for think tanks to hold or participate in international conferences"[12], so as to provide a more convenient and relaxed environment for think tanks to "go global".

In short, with the continuous development of local economy and society, the construction of local new think tanks will encounter various problems, and it is necessary to always pay attention to the development of local think tanks, make corresponding adjustments according to the changes in domestic and foreign development trends, give full play to the important role of think tanks in promoting the comprehensive development of local economy and society, and realize the standardization and sustainable development of local new think tanks.

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The Construction Practice of Local New Think Tanks in the New Era-Zhang Xiaodan, Gao Hongcun|National (China) Think Tank