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Think tank summit concludes with calls for more co-op

By Wang Jianfen (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2009-07-05 11:15

China's newly established "super think tank" and a corresponding body from the United States Saturday jointly called for expanded exchanges between like-minded organizations across the world as the first Global Think Tank Summit concluded in Beijing.

Special coverage: 2009 Global Think Tank Summit Related readings:  Sino-US ties pragmatic: Think tank  Anti-protectionism announcement made at think-tank summit  China kicks off Global Think Tank Summit in Beijing  Premier meets dignitaries ahead of think-tank summit

“To reduce the adverse effects of the global financial crisis… and to help each country realize an early recovery, think tanks across the world should play a positive and active role,” according to a joint initiative read out by Mr. Zheng Xinli in Chinese and Mr. John Lawson Thornton in English.

Zheng is the Permanent Vice Chairman of the four-month old China Center for International Economic Exchanges (CCIEE) and Thornton is the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Brookings Institution.

The initiative called for think tanks all over the world to “build better cross-border collaboration” and cooperate in “dealing with challenges including the financial crisis, security, health, climate change and poverty.”

The three-day summit discussed solutions to tackle the financial crisis. In attendance were Li Keqiang, China’s Vice Premier; Romano Prodi, former President of the European Commission and former Prime Minister of Italy; Jose Maria Botelho de Vasconcelos, Minister of Petroleum of Angola and President of the Organization for Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC); Henry Kissinger, Former Secretary of State of the United States and Muhammad Yunus, 2006 Nobel laureate.

The CCIEE, dubbed as China's "super think tank", is headed by retired Vice-Premier Zeng Peiyan and made its first public appearance at the summit.

Despite its close ties with the government, the CCIEE has vowed to stay independent in both financing and operation.