ditor’s note: Recently, Professor Zhu Weilie, director of the Expert Committee of Center for China and Arab States Reform and Development Studies (the Center), talked in an interview with Xinmin Evening News about the attempts made by the Center to tell Chinese stories and share experience with Arab States in areas such as reform and governance.

Think tank is an important symbol of the country's soft power. Over the past 40 years of reform and opening up, China’s political, economic, and social development has accomplished remarkable achievements, which is closely related to the active and visible part think tanks have taken in facilitating governance and gathering talents. In this respect, think tanks in Shanghai play a unique and important role in Shanghai's city construction and international communication, serving the overall national strategy while actively bridging the gap between knowledge and policy.

On July 10, 2018, the 8th Ministerial Meeting of the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum  was held in Beijing. At the opening ceremony, President Xi Jinping delivered a speech entitled "Work Together to Forge China-Arab Strategic Partnership in the New Era". Li Yansong, president of Shanghai International Studies University (SISU) and Professor Zhu Weili from SISU were invited to attend the opening ceremony. Professor Zhu Weilie feels encouraged by President Xi’s instructions "the Center I initiated is working well, and it has become a platform for sharing experience in reform and opening up, and governance. In the future, the Center should be made bigger and stronger to provide more intellectual support for both sides.”Zhu Weilie holds that President Xi’s speech is not only an approval for the Center, but also a spur and encouragement for Shanghai to serve national strategies and step up China-Arab cooperation. He believes that in the future, the Center will help Shanghai make full use of its unique characteristics to contribute to China-Arab cooperation.

In January 2016, President Xi Jinping delivered a speech in his visit to the headquarters of the League of Arab States, announcing to the Arab world the establishment of the Center, aiming to promote China-Arab friendship and cooperation. In order to implement the outcomes of President Xi’s visits, the Center was established on April 20, 2017. It is co-hosted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Education and the Shanghai Municipal People's Government, and is organized by SISU. Since its foundation, the Center has set up a council, an expert committee and an administrative management team, and has been working well. It follows national strategy by spreading Chinese voices and sharing experience in reform and governance with Arab States. It also contributes to China's multilateral diplomacy by providing talents for the Belt and Road Initiative.

The center has successfully held five workshops for officials from Arab States, the participants including 137 senior officials and well-known scholars. The workshops have arranged activities such as lectures, on-site teaching, visits etc. They focus on China's basic national conditions and new strategies for governance, China's political system and decision-making process, China's economic reform and development zone construction, China's education development plan and reform practice, review and outlook of Shanghai’s development, the innovation and practice of The China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone  etc. The establishment and materialization of the Center helps to promote China-Arab cooperation in building the Belt and Road Initiative, especially to strengthen people-to-people bonds between the two sides. Hamdi Helmi, director of the Strategic Planning and Project Management Center in Information and Decision Support Center, Cabinet of Egypt hopes that China could build the Center into a high-end platform for China-Arab cooperation and communication. Professor Tarik El Malki from School of Business Administration and Higher Education of Casablanca, Morocco, points out that the Center and the workshops are the specific interpretations of the initiative "To Build a China-Arab Community of Shared Future" proposed by President Xi Jinping. Mohamed Abdelrahman, director of Department of Planning and Policy, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Sudan, says that through the workshops, he has had a deeper understanding of the Belt and Road Initiative, China's reform and opening up policy, and China's wisdom.

In 2013, President Xi Jinping put forward the requirements for developing a new type of think tank with Chinese characteristics, and first-class universities and first-class disciplines. The "Decision of the CCCPC on Some Major Issues Concerning Comprehensively Deepening the Reform " adopted by the Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee clearly states that " We will strengthen the building of new types of think tanks with Chinese characteristics, and establish and improve the consultation system on decision-making. " In the view of Professor Zhu Weilie, who has been engaged in academic and think tank research for decades, this is encouraging to the construction of think tanks in the universities. The Center, initiated by President Xi Jinping, is a good example. In addition to holding workshops for senior officials, the Center has also explored personnel training, think tank research and people-to-people and cultural exchanges. It follows national strategies by spreading Chinese voices. It enhances China-Arab relations and provides support to China's diplomacy.

Zhu Weilie holds that ever since the reform and opening up policy was carried out, the government has paid more attention to the opinions and suggestions of experts and scholars on regional situations and major issues, which makes it possible for university teachers to engage in consulting services through the combination of foreign affairs practice and academic research. The construction of think tanks in recent years has reflected the great trust of the party and the government in intellectuals. According to him, think tank research must remain problem-oriented and should serve national interests, and universities must apply international standards when developing first-class disciplines. Shanghai is abundant in international knowledge. The Shanghai Municipal Government attaches great importance to think tanks in Shanghai, and has expressed its willingness to provide support to the Center. Zhu Weilie believes that Shanghai, as the vanguard of China's reform and opening up policy and the pioneer of innovation and development, is eligible to tell Chinese stories to the world.