China's Foreign Policy Think Tanks: institutional evolution and changing roles

This article provides an overview of activities by Chinese foreign policy think tanks, with a particular focus on developments over the last decade. Covering a sample of prominent institutes, it provides up-to-date information about their academic, advisory and PR functions, and highlights major differences between individual institutes and organizational groups. In line with the findings, I argue that Chinese think tanks have undergone a remarkable increase and professionalization in their academic work, as well as made big strides in improving their footprint in the media. Finally, the article also considers new developments in networking organizations that have been particularly important in bringing experts together to pursue mutual interests, and how these relate to changes in Beijing's international agenda.