The Complexity of Funding International Research Collaboration. An Analysis of Partnership and Rivalry Between the EU and China

In recent years, increased rivalry between China and the EU has been seen as a threat to cooperation, including in the field of higher education and scientific research. We explore how cooperation in research between China and the EU has developed over time via a bibliometric analysis of international co-authorships within four different funding agencies (CAS, MOST, JRC, and ESA). Our findings suggest that EU-China cooperation has continued to strengthen, despite a new options for “rivalry to increase between these two parties”. We suggest that this is explained by the benefits that both the EU and China receive from collaboration, albeit such benefits differ in type. Possibly, our findings are also a byproduct of adjustments triggered initially by the US “China Initiative”. The dilemma of whether to collaborate or not is likely to become more pressing, as the policies of some funding agencies have implications for national defense and security.