Think tanks and the knowledge–policy nexus in China

This paper investigates how China's institutional context and characteristics affect the nature and agency of Chinese think tanks and if the marketization of the Chinese economy over the last generation has had an impact on the knowledge–policy interface. To do this, it marshals and deploys the knowledge regime framework that probes how ideas and institutions intersect to provide opportunities for knowledge actors to generate and transmit policy relevant knowledge. Through application, we can infer that China possesses a politically tempered knowledge regime that is far more plural and diverse than ever before but where policy influence is contingent on administrative linkages to different government ministries. Externalization of policy advice is thus largely a product of institutional parameters that condition the relationship between think tanks and various ministries; it is also being accelerated by a dramatic rise in supply of policy professionals that are available to influence policy from the sidelines. By demonstrating this, the paper transcends prevailing think tank accounts that have largely refrained from studying their rise vis-à-vis incumbent political contexts, which is critical to their existence and efficacy.