On the morning of January 8^th, RUC’s National Academy of Development and Strategy held its first symposium on “Public Opinion and Developing Think Tank Work.” Scholars and experts from the Brookings-Tsinghua Center for Public Policy, the China Public Diplomacy Association, China Social Sciences Press, as well as media representatives from China Central Television, China National Radio, People’s Daily, Guangming Daily, Study Times, and China Daily, came together to hold talks on developing think tanks and engaging public opinion. Representatives from Renmin University, including Vice Chairmen ZHANG Jianming and WU Fulai also joined the symposium. Vice Chairman WU stressed the importance of think tank work in a globalized world, whether confronting social, economic, or diplomatic issues. The directors of the National Academy of Development and Strategy also led a discussion on how think tanks can effectively work together toward producing substantive policy research output. Vice Director WANG Lili noted that to a certain extent, the development of think tanks reflects the level of openness of a society, the activity of its intellectual elite, as well as a country's cultural soft power. Chinese think tanks, as was also stressed, face an historic opportunity, both in terms of confronting contemporary global challenges with innovative ideas, as well as enhancing their influence at home and abroad.