I. Background of Establishment

With support from the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Commerce of China, and directly sanctioned by the Ministry of Education, APEC Study Center of Nankai University was officially inaugurated on March 1995, as a follow-up to the then APEC Leader’s Education Initiative (ALEI).

As a comprehensive university established in 1919 inTianjin, NankaiUniversity is the alma mater of the late Premier Zhou En Lai. The economic study of NankaiUniversity has a long history and it is among the strongest of all domestic universities of China. Making good use of the academic and management resources of NankaiUniversity, the Center is capable of playing multiple roles on undertaking APEC-related issues studies, providing consulting services for related Ministries of the central government, cultivating high quality talents, and carrying out academic exchanges with related research institutions of other APEC member economies.

In view of its important role as a think-tank institution, the Center was named as one of the National Social Science Research Bases of China in 1999. Since then, the Center receives financial support annually from Ministry of Education. As a college-level institution of NankaiUniversity, the Center also receives annual funding or project support from the university.

II. Mechanism and Features

Since its establishment, APEC Study Center of Nankai University has been running with a unique mechanism of “Small institution, big team”. The Center itself has around 10 full-time staffs. At the same time, using research projects as the tie of cooperation, the Center organizes and coordinates a nation-wide research network. The network consists of about 30 part-time experts from other departments of NankaiUniversity, as well as other universities and research institutes of China. In this way, the Center has not only achieved the goal of widening the influence of the APEC study around China, but also give a full play of the academic specialties of the experts and ensure the high quality of the research.

The Center also invited several senior government officials as visiting professors, including Mr. Li Zhaoxing, former Foreign Minister of China, Mr. Long Yongtu, former Vice Minister and the Chief Representative for Trade Negotiations of Ministry of Commerce of China, and Ambassador Wang Yusheng, former Senior Official of APEC of China, etc. Benefited from the information and suggestions provided by the visiting professors, the Center has always been able to link its research work tightly with the new trends and hot issues of Asia-Pacific economic cooperation.

With the support of related Ministries, the Center has been organizing senior personnel training programs and degree education majoring in World Economy for government officials during the past two decades. More than 150 officials have got graduation certificates or diploma.

The Center also attaches great importance to enhance cooperation with the business/private sector. During the past few years, the Center has provided ABAC China and APEC China Business Council with full range of advisory services, and plays an important role in promoting and helping Chinese enterprises to participate in APEC cooperation.

With the above mentioned efforts, an effective tripartite cooperation mechanism has been established, which will constantly poor new vigor to the Center’s work.

III. Achievements and Work Progress

Since its establishment, APEC Study Center of Nankai University has provided more than 500 consultative reports for related Ministries of Chinese government. Scholars of the Center have published more than 40 academic books. The Center has accomplished about 50 research projects established by APEC, PECC, Asian Development Bank, and related Ministries of Chinese government. The Center has also hosted quite a few international academic conferences and seminars, including the APEC Study Center Consortium (ASCC) Conferences held respectively in 2001 and 2014 when China served as the host of APEC meeting.

On the 2014 ASCC conference, APEC Study Center of Nankai University initiated a discussion on how to strengthen the ASCC mechanism toward a more effective think-tank network. Basing on the discussion, the Center submitted a proposal to SOM. The proposal received positive comments from APEC senior officials. The SOM Chair commented that APEC expects a louder voice and more contribution from the academia. Then, with the strong support of SOM, ASCC presented the first-ever policy recommendation letter to APEC Ministerial Meeting in 2014. The letter emphasized that the abundant academic resources stored in ASCC should be fully exploited and utilized. Therefore, it is suggested that APEC provide ASCC with necessary support to make it a more effective think-tank network, empowering it to make more contribution to the development of APEC process.