Science, Foreign Policy, and Corporate Global China: Industry-Science Collaborations in Switzerland

Abstract Against the backdrop of the Chinese government’s efforts to become a global science and technology leader, the Sino-American trade war, and debates around Chinese technology firms, this article contributes a qualitative, empirical investigation of the complex nature of Chinese industry-science collaboration abroad. It investigates how science, foreign policy and corporate globalization policies have unfolded in practice on—and under—the ground, leading to multi-faceted collaborations between a Chinese company’s research and development (R&D) department and foreign research institutions. This article focuses on the case of Huawei Technologies in Switzerland, in particular on the company’s 5G Joint Innovation Center and the Huawei Zurich Research Center. Switzerland is a particularly interesting case because the country hosts numerous international organizations and continental Europe’s top university, and has long played an important role as a Chinese diplomatic, scientific, and economic gateway to Europe. Methodologically, the article draws on ethnographic, media, and documentary research conducted between 2019 and 2023, including observations and interviews with Swiss and Chinese experts in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) field. Drawing attention to the complex interconnection between the two countries’ economic, political, and scientific interests, the article argues that science is both impacted by foreign policy and used to impact policy abroad, making it a key arena for understanding China’s global engagement.