The Essence of Knowledge Bank Strategy: Service or Control? Discussion on China's Economics Theory Reflection

Li Hua

doi:doi:10.16538/j.cnki.jfe.2016.09.004

Abstract

The knowledge bank strategy launched by the World Bank in the 1990s has made great contributions to its later development. In the process of China's peaceful rise,China not only needs to have its own economic contribution to the world,but also should have its own cultural (or knowledge) contribution to the world. The knowledge bank strategy and its development can provide China with such experiences. It attempts to systematically analyze the historical background,development stages,function mechanisms,effects and essence of the knowledge bank strategy mainly from the perspective of economic history. It comes to the conclusions as follows: firstly,the background of this strategy is based on the failure of Washington Consensus and the rise of knowledge economy; secondly,this strategy is promoted by five mechanisms,namely organizational institution construction,discourse system building,intellectual achievements publication,support from financial loans and high-level training; thirdly,this strategy has a two-sided feature,that is to say,it is helpful to spread public knowledge on the surface,but is essentially for paradigm maintenance and ideological output. Furthermore,linking the strategy of knowledge bank with present China's economics theory reflection,we can get the following enlightenments: firstly,we should hold a dialectical view of the outside voice,treat western theories prudently and improve our own economics theory innovation; secondly,we should make great efforts to improve the Chinese voice in the global economic knowledge production institutions; lastly,Chinese international financial institutions should enhance output and service abilities of their own knowledge products. In the process of China's capital and culture going gradually towards the world,the knowledge bank strategy of the World Bank and its development may be able to provide certain enlightenments for the peaceful rise of China and the promotion of China's international discourse power.