Last week, Chinese authorities announced that Chen Xuanqing, former inspector of the Regional Economy Department of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), is under investigation. Hong Kong media reported on Monday (March 30) that he previously served as the project team leader for the “Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Cooperation Development Planning Research” in his capacity as a consultant for the China Center for International Economic Exchanges (CCIEE), participating in the research work for the "Outline Development Plan for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area."
According to the announcement from the website of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Supervisory Commission last Tuesday (March 24), Chen Xuanqing is suspected of serious disciplinary and law violations, and is currently under disciplinary review and supervisory investigation by the CCDI/NSC team stationed at the NDRC and the Supervisory Commission of Shunyi District, Beijing.
According to a report from Ming Pao on Monday, Chen Xuanqing worked for a long time at the NDRC, focusing on the Regional Economy Department, where he once served as deputy director. He has been retired for more than ten years; after retirement, he remained active at the forefront of national strategic consultation. In August 2016, as a consultant for the CCIEE, he served as the project team leader for research on the cooperative development plan for the Greater Bay Area, participating in the research work for the "Outline Development Plan for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area."
The report stated that at the time, the Guangdong Provincial Government approached CCIEE and commissioned it to conduct a feasibility study on the development of the Greater Bay Area. For this purpose, CCIEE set up a project team with Chen Xuanqing as the team leader, bringing together top economic research institutions from the mainland, including the Chinese Academy of Macroeconomic Research, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Sun Yat-sen University Institute of Hong Kong and Macao Studies, and other institutes and scholars. The NDRC also sent officials to participate.
The report stated that at the time, the Guangdong Provincial Government approached CCIEE and commissioned it to conduct a feasibility study on the development of the Greater Bay Area. For this purpose, CCIEE set up a project team with Chen Xuanqing as the team leader, bringing together top economic research institutions from the mainland, including the Chinese Academy of Macroeconomic Research, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Sun Yat-sen University Institute of Hong Kong and Macao Studies, and other institutes and scholars. The NDRC also sent officials to participate.
In February 2019, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council issued the "Outline Development Plan for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area." Chen Xuanqing, in an interview, once said that within the Greater Bay Area there are two systems, three customs territories, and three currencies. Under the framework of "one country, two systems," the "Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Cooperation Development Planning" included Hong Kong and Macao in regional planning for the first time. "Considering the area as an integrated region for overall planning was a major initiative."
CCIEE was established in 2008, the year after the financial crisis, with China's former Vice Premier Zeng Peiyan as its founder. Its deputy directors and executive directors include a number of current and retired ministers, heads of central state-owned enterprises, and figures from political, business, and academic circles.
CCIEE claims to be independent of the government, setting up a research fund with 500 million RMB (about 318 million MYR) in membership fees to demonstrate credibility and independence. It was once regarded as a "super think tank" in China.
CCIEE was established in 2008, the year after the financial crisis, with China's former Vice Premier Zeng Peiyan as its founder. Its deputy directors and executive directors include a number of current and retired ministers, heads of central state-owned enterprises, and figures from political, business, and academic circles.
CCIEE claims to be independent of the government, setting up a research fund with 500 million RMB (about 318 million MYR) in membership fees to demonstrate credibility and independence. It was once regarded as a "super think tank" in China.
Previously, the CCIEE was supervised by the NDRC, but it has since been placed under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS).
At a CCIEE work symposium held in Beijing on January 17 this year, CASS pointed out that transferring the center to CASS in its entirety was an important move by the Central Committee to deepen reform of the think tank system and mechanisms and to better harness the function of think tanks. CASS will resolutely undertake its political responsibilities, comprehensively strengthen political construction, and take effective measures to promote deepening reform of the center's system and mechanisms, strictly enforcing discipline and regulations.
The Hong Kong Sing Tao Daily wrote: "The press release from the symposium is replete with hints that the CCIEE has had disciplinary and regulatory issues."
A Caixin report revealed that over many years, while the CCIEE had raised funds by undertaking local government projects and providing consulting services, there were some controversies over potentially non-compliant practices. Some retired high-level officials at the CCIEE, classified as centrally managed cadres, have already returned fees they received—sometimes in large amounts.
The Sing Tao Daily article also pointed out that the adjustment at CCIEE was a result of the authorities strengthening the management of senior officials, and also because, after Zeng Peiyan stepped down after more than a decade in charge and the successor Bi Jingquan got into trouble, the organization was left rudderless. After its transfer to CASS, an ideological stronghold, the CCIEE no longer possesses the independence it previously championed, marking the decline of this "super think tank." CCIEE chairman Bi Jingquan was dismissed last May.