兰德-探索与中国合作研究的机遇和挑战（英）-2022.6

RESEARCHBRIEF

Exploringthe

opportunitiesand

challengesofresearch

engagementwithChina

ResearchcollaborationwithChinahasalwaysbeencomplexforUKacademicsbecauseofseveralbarrierstoentryincludinglanguage,culturalandregulatorygaps.Ontopofthesecoredifficulties,newanddisruptivechallengesaretodayrisingtotheforeandmakingacademiccollaborationwithChinaevenmoreuncertain.Mostnotably,concernsovertheintegrationoftheChinesecivilianandmilitaryresearchanddevelopmentecosystems,basedonChina’s

Military-CivilFusionstrategyareleadingsomepoliticians,industriesandmembersofthepublictocallfortheUKtodisengagewithChinaandtoemulatecountrieslikeAustraliaandtheUSinintroducingstrictsecuritymeasuresregulatinginternationalresearchcollaboration.However,UK-Chinaresearchpartnershipsalsobringsignificanteconomic,socialandscientificbenefitstotheUK,Chinaandbeyond,makingdecouplingdifficult.

AnasynchronoussurveyofUK-basedacademicsandsupportservicesgathering43responsesfrom25UKresearchorganisations.

2

Tohelpnavigatethiscomplexlandscape,theBritishEmbassyBeijing,onbehalfoftheForeignCommonwealthandDevelopmentOffice,commissionedRANDEuropetoconductanindependentandevidence-basedstudyintoUKacademics’researchengagementwithChina.Thestudy’sintendedoutcomesareto:

1

ImprovetheUKgovernmentandwiderunderstandingofhowandwhyUKacademicsengagewithChinaonjointresearchactivities.

2

BetterunderstandhowUKresearchorganisationsmanageanyresultingrisks.

3

InformongoingeffortsbytheUKgovernmentandhighereducationcommunitytohelpnavigatethiscomplexlandscape.

Toachievetheseobjectives,theRANDstudyteamadoptedamixed-methodsapproachdividedintothreephases:

Phase1:Takingstockofexistingevidence

TwoliteraturereviewsofbibliometricstudiesonUK-Chinaresearchcollaborationand

academicandgreyliteratureontheensuingbenefitsandrisks.

Phase2:Gatheringnewevidence

AnupdateoftheBritishEmbassyBeijingdatabaseofUK-Chinajointresearchcentres.

40interviewswithUK-basedacademicsandsupportservicesfrom34UKresearchorganisationsacrossdisciplinesandinstitutiontypes.

Phase3:Combiningandanalysingdata

AnetworkanalysisofUK-Chinajointresearchcentresanddatavisualisationactivities.

Desk-basedanalysisandsynthesisactivities.

AsynthesisandrecommendationsexternalworkshopgatheringvariousUKgovernmentdepartmentsandthehighereducationcommunity(FCDO,BEIS,MOD,DCMS).

Theactivitiesare,however,subjecttosomelimitations.Forexample,thereisalackofsufficientdataonothermetricsofresearchcollaborationtotriangulateemergingfindingsfromournetworkanalysisofUK-Chinajointresearchcentres.Assuch,theseemergingfindingsshouldbeboundedandfurtherstudiesshouldbeconductedtoadvanceknowledgeofUK-Chinaresearchcollaboration.

3

Year

AggregatednumberofjointUK-Chinaresearchcentres

KEYFINDINGS

Understandingthebreadthanddepthof

UK-Chinaresearchcollaboration

UKandChineseresearchecosystemshavebecomeincreasinglyintegratedsincetheearly2000s,withincreasingnumbersofChineseacademicsworkinginUKuniversities,growinglevelsofco-publishedpapersandasurgingnumberofjointUK-Chinaresearchcentres.Inparticular,metricsofresearchoutputsshowthatcollaborationgreatlyflourishedduringtheso-called‘goldenera’inUK-Chinarelations(2014–2019).

180

160

140

120

100

80

60

40

20

0

200320042006200720082009201020112012201320142015201620172018201920202021

NumberofnewjointUK-Chinaresearchcentres

PercentageofjointUK-China

researchcentres(%)

4

However,someindicatorsaretodaystartingtoshowapotentialslowdown,ifnotdecline,ofthistrend.

OuranalysisofjointUK-Chinaresearchcentresrevealsthatstartingin2019andcontinuinginto2020and2021,thenumberofnewlyset-upjointUK-Chinaresearchcentressharplydeclined.Furtherstudiesofotherresearchcollaborationoutputsafter2019arehoweverneededtocorroborateandvalidatethisemergingfinding.

30

25

20

15

10

5

0

200320042006200720082009201020112012201320142015201620172018201920202021

Year

TheincreasingintegrationofUKandChineseresearchecosystemshasbeenparticularlyskewedtotechnology-baseddisciplines.OuranalysisoftheacademicdisciplinesstudiedinUK-ChinajointresearchcentrescorroboratesexistingstudiesonUK-Chinaresearchcollaborationandshowsthatthemajority(78percent)ofjointUK-ChinaresearchcentresfocusonSTEMdisciplines.1

10%13%

78%

STEM

Multidisciplinary

Non-STEM

1Thesenumbershavebeenroundedtotheclosestdecimalforclarityandpresentationpurposes.Non-roundedfiguresare:STEMsubjects(77.56percent),non-STEMsubjects(12.82percent)andmultidisciplinarytopics(9.62percent).

5

ThemostcommonacademictopicresearchedacrossalljointUK-Chinacentresisengineering(28jointresearchcentres),followedbymaterialsscience(17)andenvironment/ecology(17),outofatotal156jointresearchcentres.AdifferentcategorisationandbreakdownofSTEM-focusedresearchcentresintothe17sectorsidentifiedintheNationalSecurityandInvestmentAct(2021)showsthatsyntheticbiology(47)isthemostcommondisciplineofinterestforUK-Chinajointresearchcentres,followedbyadvancedmaterials(21),energy(15),engineering(12),artificialintelligence(8),satelliteandspacetechnologies(8),communications(4),transport(4)anddatainfrastructure(3).ThisbroadlycoincidedwiththesevenprioritysectorsdefinedbytheUKScienceandInnovationNetworkinChinain2017.However,highlevelsofpoliticalfocusonandfundingforSTEMresearchinChinaandhistoricalacademicstrengthsinthesetopicsmayalsoexplaintheskewofjointUK-ChinacentrestowardsSTEMdisciplines.

17

Environment/Ecology

28

Engineering

15

Multidisciplinary

12

ClinicalMedicine

17

MaterialScience

6

Arts&Humanities

7

11

AgriculturalSciences

SpaceScience

2

Biology&

Bioche-

mistry

5

Immunology

3

Pharmacology&Toxicology

2

Molecular

Biology&

Genetics

4

2

Plant&

AnimalScience

15

ComputerScience

10

Economics&

Business

SocialScience,General

NationalPhysicalLaboratory

WuhanUniversityOfTechnology

NanjingUniversityOfInformation,ScienceAndTechnology

ShanghaiUniversityOfFinanceAndEconomics

UniversityOfReading

BeijingUniversityOfAeronautics&Astronautics

IBMChina

BirminghamUniversity

WuyiUniversity

NewcastleUniversity

TusParkChinaCentreForDiseaseControl

NanjingMedicalSchool

LiverpoolSchoolOfTropicalMedicineCRRCShijiazhuang

RutherfordAppletonLab

SuzhouIndustrialPark

WuhanUnionHospital

DongbeiUniversityOfFinanceAndEconomics

NuffieldDepartntOfMedicine

StrathclydeUniversity

GuangdongUniversityOfTechnology

NanjingCityGovernment

BeihangUniversityOfAeronautics&Astronautics

BeijingUniversityOfChemicalTechnology

SichuanUniversity

BT

InstituteOfChemistryBeijing

UniversityOfSurrey

UK-ChinaSpaceLaboratory

SouthernUniversityOfScienceAndTechnologyUniversityOfSwansea

MetOffice

ScienceAndTechnologiesFacilitiesCouncil

UniversityOfDurham

ChangchunInstituteOfAppliedChemistryShenzhenVirtualUniversityPark

ShanghaiInstituteMateriaMedic

CapitalNormalUniversity

QuadramInstitute

King'sCollegeLondon

AgriculturalUniversity

InstituteOfMicrobiologyGenentech

StateKeyLaboratoryOfMycology

CambridgeEnterprisesNanjingNormalUniversityJiangbeiDistrictInstituteOfAtmosphericPhysics

InstituteOfGeneticsAndDevelopmentalBiology

HeilongjiangUniversityOfChineseMedicineUniversityOfLeeds

ChengduInstituteOfBiology

LiverpoolJohnMooresUniversity

UniversityOfScienceAndTechnologyOfChina

StJohn'sInnovationCentreHebeiUniversity

Pfizer

MRCT

InstituteOfPlantPhysiologyAndEcology

NationalEngineeringResearchCenterForNaturalMedicineRoche

Shell

LabOfNaturalMedicineAndClinicalTransformation

StateKeyLaboratoryOfPhytochemistryAndPlantResourcesInWestChinaAstraZeneca

Biotica

BureauOfScience&TechnologyForDevelopment

JohnInnesCentre

SheffieldHallamUniversityLeedsBeckettUniversity

FosunInternationalOxfordBrookesUniversity

Huawei

UniversityOfShanghaiForScienceAndTechnology

ShanghaiInstituteOfMateriaMedica

UKRI

LondonSouthBankUniversityBirminghamCityUniversity

UniversityOf

LiaoningUniversity

TheFutureMetrologyHub

ManchesterMetropolitanUniversity

WuhanTextileUniversity

Glaxosmithkline

JiangnanUniversityPharmaceuticalCompany

NanjingAgricultureUniversityMinistryOfScienceAndTechnologyChina

Alibaba

InstituteOfPlantProtection

ShandongUniversityOfTechnology

CoventryUniversity

DeMontfortUniversity

ChinaHighSpeedTrainAuthorities

NationalNuclearLaboratory

ChineseMinistryOfAgriculture

JinanUniversity

RothamstedResearch

NingboNewMaterialTechnologyCity

UniversityOfGlasgow

HarperAdamsUniversity

UniversityOfSterling

BeijingAcademyOfAgricultureForestrySciences

BEIS

Institute

GuangdongUniversityOfForeignStudies

BeijingAircraftTechnologyResearchUniversityOfSouthampton

CNOOC

SouthChinaSeaInstituteOfOceanology

YuyaoDistrictGovernmentChineseAcademyOfSurveyAndMapping

HeriotWUniversity

Tsinghuaniversity

ShanghaiAdvancedResearchInstitute

CentralSouthUniversityOfForestryAndTechnology

UniversityOfElectronicScienceAndTechnologyOfChina

UKCCSResearchCentre

NDRCGuangdongElectricPowerDesignInstitute

NorthChinaElectricPowerUniversity

NationalAdministrationForSurveyGuangdongAcademyOfSciences

JamesHuttonInstitute

SouthwestJiaotongUniversity

UniversityOfNottinghamNingboChina

BeijingInstituteOfTechnology

University

YantaiGovernment

BangorUniversityNingboGovernment

ChinaMedicalUniversity

ZhejiangWanliEducationGroup

ShenzhenPeople'sHospitalAeroEngineCorporationOfChina

XiamenUniversity

PekingUniversity

SouthChinaAgriculturalUniversity

TongjiUniversity

BeijingInstituteForAeronauticalMaterials

NingboMunicipalGovernment

QueensUniversityBelfast

GuangzhouInstituteOfGeochemistry

PirbrightInstitute

UniversityOfHongKong

Chongqing

FutureMediaConvergenceInstitute

UniversityOfLancaster

UniversityOfWarwick

InstituteOfEngineeringThermophysics

HarbinInstituteOfTechnology

Chang'AnAutomotive

ShandongBinzhouAnimalScienceAndVeterinaryMedicineAcademy

CentralManchesterNHSFoundationTrustShenzhenHospital

TianjinGrapheneInnovationCentreNanjing

LancasterUniversity

GrapheneLightingChinaResearchAcademyOfEnvironmentalSciences

JinanQingNaMaterialTechnology

InstituteOfUrbanEnvironment

ChinaElectronicsTechnologyGroupCorporation

StateGridElectricPowerResearchInstitute

BGTMaterials

NanjingEconomicAndTechnologicalDevelopmentZonePekingUniversityHealthSciencesCentre

VersarienShandongInstituteOfIndustrialTechnologyFund

JiangsuIndustryTechnologyResearchInstitute

ShaanxiMomentum

NanjingUniversityOfScience&Technology

SouthernMedicalUniversity

NorthWestAgricultureAndForestryUniversity

StateBureauOfSurveyAndMapping

ShaanxiUniversityOfScienceAndTechnology

UlsterCollege

ChineseAcademyOfAgriculturalSciences.

ShenzhenInstituteOfAdvancedTechnologies

UbTech

NhOityfPostsAndTelecommunications

University

Heriot-WattUniversity

UniversityOfBradford

ChengduUniversityOfInformationTechnologyCentreForAgricultureAndBiosciencesInternational

HarbinEngineeringUniversity

NationalEngineeringResearchCentreForInformationTechnologyInAgriculture

Agri-EpiCentre

NanjingInternationalHealthArea

ChinaAgricultureUniversity

NorthWestAgriculture&ForestryUniversity

ChinaNationalNuclearCorporation

ChinaAtomicEnergyAuthority

HubeiUniversity

UniversityOfOxfordHospitalsCambridgeSciencePark

WestChinaHospital

BeijingYou'AnHospital

ChinaAcademyOfLaunchVehicleTechnologyNtiilOfNursingAndMidwifery

BeijingNormalUniversityUniversityOfEastAnglia

ChinaRegenerativeMedicineInternationalLtdUniversityOfOxfordEastChinaUniversityOfPoliticsAndLawUniversityOfCentralLancashire

Scotland’sRuralCollege

ChineseAcademyOfSciencesSongshanGovernment

ADASUniversityOfSheffield

Hi-TargetUniversityOfAberdeenJITRINanjingTechUniversityChinaMeteorologicalAdministration

HarbinNormalUniversityZhejiangUniversityLifearcTwiGroupMaterialsProcessingInstituteUniversityOfHuddersfield

ShandongUniversityChineseAcademyOfAgriculturalSciencesNanjingUniversityChengduUniversityOfTechnology

ChinaAgriculturalUniversity

CentralSouthUniversityNewSummitBioNanjingAgriculturalUniversity

UniversityClegeLondon

DonghuaUniversityBeijingJiaotongImperialCollegeLondonDalianUniversityOfTechnology

AviationIndustryCorporationOfChina

CranfieldUniversity

UniversityOfManchesterSuzhouHitechPark

SouthChinaUniversityOfTechnology

CardiffCentreForEcology&Hydrology

GuiyangNationalHigh-TechZone

GuangzhouInstituteOfBiomedicineAndHealthGrapheneResearchInstitute

NorthwesternPolytechnicUniversity

SichuanMingxinInvestmentGroupChengduHigh-TechZone

HenleyBusinessSchoolNottinghamTrentUniversityXi'AnJiaotongUniversity

CommunicationUniversityOfChina(Beijing)

ChinaAerospaceScienceAndTechnologyCorporationQueenMary,UniversityOfLondon

ZhengzhouUniversity

NingboMy-BiomedBiotechnologyUniversityOfLiverpool

ChineseAcademyOfMedicalSciencesSuzhouInternationalScience-ParkDataCentre

SoutheastUniversity

NationalLabOfPatternRecognitionUniversityOfEdinburgh

UniversityOfStrathclydeCRRCQingdaoSifangCo

UniversityOfLeicesterShanghaiJiaotongUniversityBoeing

UniversityOfDundeeBeihangUniversity

AdvancedManufacturingResearchCentreSalford

ShanghaiAcademyOfSpaceflightTechnology

NingboScienceAndTechnologyBureau

6

OurnetworkanalysisofjointUK-ChinaresearchcentresfurtherrevealsthatasmallproportionofresearchorganisationsaccountformostUK-Chinaresearchcollaborationwhenmeasuredintermsofjointcentres.One-fifthoftheorganisationsaccountfortwo-thirdsofresearchcollaborationinjointcentres.ThemostconnectedorganisationsoverallaretheUniversityofCambridge(UK),SoutheastUniversity(China)andtheUniversityofEdinburgh(UK).

UniversityOfNottingham

NationalInstituteOfAgriculturalBotany

OffshoreRenewableEnergyCatapult

ScottishGovernment

GuangdongDevelopmentAndReformCommission

FCDO

AnhuiUniversityTianjinOfBirmingham

StateGridCorporationOfChina

AvicCommercialAircraftEngineCompany

XisenPotatoGroup

UniversityForTheCreativeArts

Chineseinstitutionsmakeupapproximatelytwo-thirdsoftheorganisationsinvolvedinjointresearchcentres,whileUKresearchorganisationsmakeupone-third.Astherearefewerorganisations

intheUKthathaveestablishedresearchlinkswithChinesepartnersthanviceversa,UKresearchorganisationshaveahigherdensityofresearchlinksthroughjointcentresthantheirChinesecounterparts.Sevenofthetoptenmostconnectedorganisationsinthenetworkanalysisofjoint

UK-ChinaresearchcentresareindeedBritish.Furtherstudiesofotherresearchoutputstakinganinstitution-based,ratherthancountry-based,approachareneededtotriangulatethesefindings.

7

AnanalysisofourdatabaseofjointUK-ChinaresearchcentresalsoshowsthatmorephysicalresearchcentresarelocatedinChinathantheUK,especiallyincoastalprovincesandeconomicallydevelopedmunicipalitiesthathavebeenatthecentreoftradeandmigrationflowsandhavehistoricallybenefitedfrompreferentialfiscalpoliciesforeconomicexperimentation,creatingafavourableenvironmentforinnovation.TheconcentrationofphysicalfacilitiesinChinaratherthantheUKmaybeexplainedbytheincentivesthatexistforChinesecitiesanduniversitiestohostjointresearchcentres,includingfinancialbenefitsensuingfromrurallandexpropriationandconversion.

KEY

Nojointcentres

1–3jointcentres

4–6jointcentres

7–9jointcentres

10–12jointcentres

13+jointcentres

Ultimately,awiderangeofactorsareinvolvedinfundingandsponsoringUK-Chinaresearchcollaboration,includingjointresearchcentres.SomeoftheseactorsincludetheNationalNaturalScienceFoundationofChina(NSFC),theChineseAcademyofSciences(CAS),theMinistryofScienceandTechnology(MOST),JiangsuScienceandTechnologyDepartment,UKRI,InnovateUK,ResearchCouncilsUKandtheBritishCouncil.Thislistis,however,non-exhaustiveandfurtherstudiesshouldseektosystematicallymapoutfundingbodiesandtheirroleinUK-ChinaresearchcollaborationtounderstandtheweightofeachactorinthisnetworkandincreasetransparencyontheoriginofUK-Chinaresearchfunding.Thismaybedonebyanalysingbibliometricdataonthefundingacknowledgementsofco-authoredpapers.

Overall,UKresearchorganisationsandacademicsconsultedforthisstudywereverypositiveabouttheirengagementwithChina.TheyspokehighlyoftheirengagementwithChinesepartners,stressingthebenefitsofworkingwithleadingresearchers,emphasisingthepotentialfordeliveringhigh-qualityresearchoutputsandprogressintheirchosendiscipline,andpraisingthequality,rigourandinsightsoftheChinesepartnerstheyworkedwith.Hereinliesakeydifferencebetweenstakeholderconsultationsontheonehandandtheliteraturereviewdataontheother,whichfocusedmoreonthestrategicelementsofUK-Chinaresearchcollaborationandproducedafargreateremphasisonrisksthanwaspresentintheinterviewsandsurveydata.

Inaddition,UKacademicsfoundestablishingpartnershipstobeneitherextremelyeasynorextremelydifficult.Ofthestakeholders surveyed,13.5percentfelttheprocesswas‘very’straightforward,whileanother13.5percent felttheprocesswas‘not’straightforward.Most researchersencounteredsomedegreeofdifficultyandacademics’priorexperienceofconducting researchinChinaoftendeterminedtheirabilityto successfullynavigateanypotentialchallenges.

SomeoftheprimarydriversmotivatingUKresearchers’collaborationwithChinesepartnersincludeaccessingChinesehumancapitalandleadingexpertise,tacklingcommonglobalchallenges,accessingdata,datasubjectsandenablinginfrastructures,andothereconomicandreputationalbenefits.Theprospectofimprovingthequalityandimpactoftheirresearchthroughworld-leadingcollaborationsdrovemanyUKacademicstoestablishcollaborativeactivitieswithChinesepartners.ManyUKresearchersindeedpraisedtheexpertiseandcapacityforinnovationofChineseresearchersandexpressedawishtocollaboratewithChineseleadingresearchersastheywouldwithleadingresearchersofanyothernation.TheexistenceofcommonglobalchallengeslikeclimatechangeandpandemicsalsopushedmanyUKacademicstoreachouttoChinesepartnersinsearchofcollaborationfortacklingglobalissues

thatcannotbeaddressedalone.Moreover,thepotentialtocollect,accessandobservedataindifferentwaystointheUKmotivatedUKresearcherstocollaboratewithChina.ThiswasbothintermsofthetypeofnaturallyoccurringphenomenathatcouldbeobservedinChina(e.g.,uniquediseases,soildata),alongsidethestructuralconsiderationsthatmakeChinaattractiveforconductingprimaryresearch.Thepromiseofrapidlyavailabledatacouldfailtomaterialise,however,asChinaintroducesincreasinglyrobustbutstringentdataprotectionlawsforsharingcertainformsofdatabeyonditsborders.Finally,someUKresearchorganisationsmentionedothereconomicandreputationalbenefitsforcollaboratingwithChina,includingaccesstoChinesefunding,attractingChinesestudentsandimprovingtheirinternationalreputationthroughglobalcollaboration.

WhileUKacademicsconsultedagreedontheoverallbenefitsofcollaboratingwithChinesepartners,therewerecleardifferencesbetweenresearchersofdifferentdisciplines.ForUKSTEMacademics,researchcollaborationallowedcomplementaritybyenablingUKandChineseresearcherstofillareasofknowledgewheretheotherwaslacking.ForUKresearchersinsocialsciencesandartsandhumanities,UK-Chinaresearchcollaborationofferedtheopportunitytoengagewithdifferingperspectives.

Developingtrustandlong-termrelationshipbuildingunderpinnedmanyofthebenefitsandwasconsideredanessentialfeaturetoreapingtherewardsofUK-Chinaresearchcollaboration.ManyofthemostexperiencedstakeholdersconsultedstressedtheimportanceofdemonstratingculturalsensitivitywhendevelopingUK-Chinaresearchcollaboration.Giventhechallengeswithcultureandlanguage,takingtime,beingflexibleandstartingcollaborationsslowlybeforegraduallyexpandingthemwasconsideredbestpractice.Ultimately,manyofthebenefitsofUK-Chinacollaborationwerecontingentonpersonalnetworksandastrongoperationalunderstanding