On January 31, the 2018 annual meeting of the China Council for the BRICS Think Tank Cooperation (CCBTC) was held in Beijing. The meeting was hosted by the International Department of the CPC Central Committee (IDCPC) and attended by over 150 leaders and scholars from various ministries and institutions including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Commerce, Party School of the Central Committee of CPC, Tsinghua University, Peking Universtiy and Renmin University of China. Guo Yezhou, vice minister of the IDCPC and director-general of the CCBTC, attended and addressed the meeting. FNU and other five departments including the International Economics and Finance Institute of the Ministry of Finance were elected as new members. Research Fellow Lai Hairong, vice president of FNU, was elected council member.
At the opening ceremony, Professor Huang Maoxing accepted the plaque and certificate of membership on behalf of Mr. Lai Hairong. Professor Huang also served as a guest critic and made well-received remarks at the sub-forum on China in the new era and new South-South cooperation.
The CCBTC was set up on January 11th, 2017, by the IDCPC and some domestic institutes with a research focus on the BRICS nations. As one of the five members of BRICS Think Tank Council, it has acted as a Chinese initiator in promoting cooperation among BRICS Think Tanks. The main duty of the CCBTC is to facilitate non-governmental dialogues and communication under the cooperation framework of the BRICS countries. Currently, the Council consists of 1 director-general, 8 vice director-generals, 69 member units and 71 members.
(Translated by Zhang Yu, reviewed by Liang Li’e)