On November 17, Wen Xueguo, Executive Vice President of Shanghai Academy, and his party visited Forecast Thinktank, and exchanged ideas with Forecast Thinktank’s Executive Vice Director, Chen Xiaoli and Administrative Director, Sun Xiaoli.

Wen Xueguo said, Shanghai Academy is a new-type think tank jointly established by CASS and Shanghai Municipal People’s Government. Based in Shanghai and serving the whole country, Shanghai Academy aims to build itself into a high-end think tank, a high-end talent training base, a high-end platform for international exchanges and cooperation and a high-end national situation investigation base (“four high-end bases”). It has by far made notable achievements, but still faces problems that need to be addressed. As an influential social think tank, Forecast Thinktank will not only serve as a good case for the “Construction of New-type Think Tanks with Chinese Characteristics”, a CASS project of investigation about national conditions that Shanghai Academy undertakes in 2017, but also provides a different way of thinking for Shanghai Academy to achieve better development.

Chen Xiaoli extended welcome to Wen Xueguo and other visitors. She said, Forecast Thinktank is an independent third party think tank with a 20-year history. Aiming to be objective, calm, neutral, empirical and effective, it has pooled senior researchers in various fields over the past two decades, customizing more than 1,000 projects for governments and enterprises and providing special reports of different kinds on a regular basis to national ministries and commissions, as well as enterprises and public institutions. Sun Xiaoli introduced to Wen Xueguo Forecast Thinktank’s history, goals, ways of operation, products and personnel composition in a detailed manner, and highlighted three focuses of Forecast Thinktank, i.e. theoretical research, important meeting and decision-making consulting services. She added, Shanghai Academy has much excellent experience in the said respects, and expected intensified exchanges with Shanghai Academy for common progress.

Finally, both sides had in-depth exchanges about high-level think tank cooperation in the future, and reached initial intent of cooperation.

(Article and photo by Xie Nini)