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Alyssa Chen

Nearly five decades ago, in 1978, a dozen or so professors from Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU) were on a mission to visit their American counterparts as well as research institutes and factories across the United States.
The visit, said to be personally approved by then Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping, was designed to forge academic ties and led to sister-school agreements with four prestigious US universities, including the University of Michigan (UM).
It was a pivotal moment in academic collaboration between China and the US, laying the foundation for decades of transnational partnerships.
Building on this legacy, SJTU and UM established a joint institute in 2006, offering undergraduate and graduate degrees in mechanical, electrical and computer engineering. It was hailed as a gold standard for transnational higher education but the University of Michigan ended the partnership abruptly in early 2025, citing a combination of funding, political and security concerns.
In response, SJTU transitioned the joint institute into a more localised entity, now known as SJTU Global College, while pursuing new diversified partnerships.
It also plans to establish Zhangjiang International College of Technology this year, partnering with international universities, including Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University (NTU).
The demise of the SJTU-Michigan joint institute is one academic casualty on a growing list caught in the crossfire of geopolitical tensions between the United States and China.
Other high-profile closures include the Georgia Tech-Shenzhen Institute, the Tsinghua-Berkeley Shenzhen Institute, and the Sichuan University-Pittsburgh Institute, all of which faced scrutiny from the US.
These closures highlight a major shift in transnational higher education for China, with political friction reshaping the possibilities – and limits – of academic collaboration.


US universities with academic partnerships in China face mounting scrutiny from American politicians, with many appearing repeatedly in congressional reports.
The 2024 “CCP on the Quad” report from a House select committee sharply criticised six research institutions, including the Tsinghua-Berkeley Shenzhen Institute, whose partnership has been dissolved, accusing them of advancing Beijing’s military and technology.
“These six researchers leveraged expertise, applied knowledge and practical capabilities developed through years of federal funding to benefit the PRC, aiding advancements in fourth-generation nuclear weapons, artificial intelligence, advanced lasers, graphene semiconductors and robotics,” the report said, referring to the People’s Republic of China.
By last year, pressure had intensified. A US House of Representatives report called for the termination of nearly 50 US-China academic partnerships that it had deemed “high risk”.
Targeted programmes included New York University Shanghai (NYU Shanghai), a public health doctorate programme by Johns Hopkins and Tsinghua University, a master’s of law programme between Tsinghua and Temple University and an MBA programme between the University of Minnesota and Sun Yat-sen University.
As some US universities gradually retreat from joint-venture schools or programmes with their Chinese counterparts, a quiet reshuffling of educational partnership options is emerging, with the void quietly being filled by a broader spectrum of global partners for Chinese institutions.
An analysis last month from the British Council, an international organisation for cultural relations and education, noted that China’s transnational education relationships were with “a more diverse selection of partner countries”.
China’s Ministry of Education has updated its list of approved transnational education (TNE) partnerships, and in its wake, universities from Russia, Britain, Italy, South Korea, Germany and New Zealand are forging newly approved partnerships with China.
In 2025, as the ministry approved a record 285 joint education institutes and programmes at the bachelor’s level and above, the analysis stated.
“This brings the total number of active Sino-foreign partnerships to 1,589,” the council said. “The growth shows a relatively more liberal attitude towards new partnerships and comes after relatively low approval volumes in 2023 and 2024.
“The newly approved programmes and institutes are distributed across 27 of mainland China’s 31 provincial-level regions, showing the importance the ministry places on expanding high-quality [higher education] provision to the country’s relatively less developed central and western regions.”
Denis Simon, an expert on US-China higher education and former executive vice-chancellor of Duke Kunshan University (DKU) in China, said the new approvals suggested a deliberate effort to scale and diversify partnerships, with faster and expanded approval dynamics.
“The US anxieties leave space or become harder to work with, and others step into it. China also wants a portfolio that reduces dependence on any single country – especially one in a contested strategic relationship,” he said.
Li Zhuowen, a research analyst at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington, agreed, saying that China tended to hedge its academic supply chain.
“Just as the country is diversifying its sources of energy and critical minerals, it is diversifying channels of knowledge transfer and creation.”
According to the British Council, new approvals reveal a “strong bias” for STEM – science, technology, engineering and mathematics – programmes, aligning with the ministry’s long-standing policy of prioritising partnerships that support China’s development goals.
“The continued focus on STEM in these new partnerships highlights that the demand for high-level STEM education in China is relatively inelastic. If the US cuts supply, students and universities will simply look elsewhere. These partners do not replicate US strengths one to one, but they are sufficient for China’s current needs,” Li said.
According to Simon, China is using transnational education as a talent and capability instrument, not just a “soft” internationalisation tool.
However, experts noted that despite several leading US universities withdrawing from collaboration with China, it did not mean the total disappearance of US-China partnerships.


The US-China joint-venture model was unlikely to disappear entirely but was likely to “persist in a smaller, more tightly governed form”, said Simon, who pointed to the continued operation of institutions such as NYU Shanghai and other joint-venture universities (JVUs).
“Institutions that can build credible governance – screening, data controls, contracting discipline, publication and IP norms – will keep more collaboration alive. Others will self-censor or exit.”
While dual-use technology and intellectual property protection remain legitimate concerns, Li noted that political risks and compliance uncertainties were now the main drivers of decision-making.
For US universities, it was a rational decision to scale back partnerships when the compliance costs and reputational risks of collaborating with a Chinese institution outweighed the benefits of tuition revenue or research output, he added.
“The era of the ‘flagship’ US-China joint university is likely over for the near future. The trust required to build a new institution from scratch simply does not exist right now,” he said.
A review of the Ministry of Education’s list of Sino-foreign joint programmes reveals a clear trend: partnerships specialising in STEM fields are more likely to face closures or suspended enrolment. Many of the Chinese partner universities involved have been added to the US Entity List or subjected to heightened scrutiny from Washington.
The era of the ‘flagship’ US-China joint university is likely over for the near future
Li Zhuowen, research analyst
Amid geopolitical crossfire, Chinese students are increasingly drawn to JVUs or joint venture programmes as a cost-effective alternative to traditional study abroad, offering a “best of both worlds” educational experience within mainland China.
These partnerships have grown significantly since the early 2010s and reflect an increasing diversification of transnational higher education in China.
Among the partnerships are several stand-out institutions that showcase diverse academic collaborations.
NYU Shanghai and DKU are research-driven liberal arts full-fledged campuses. NYU Shanghai is a joint venture between New York University and East China Normal University, while DKU brings together Duke University and Wuhan University.
Wenzhou-Kean University is a partnership between New Jersey’s Kean University and Wenzhou University.
On a different note, the Tianjin Juilliard School focuses exclusively on music education and is the result of a collaboration between the Juilliard School in New York and the Tianjin Conservatory of Music.
The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, established in 2012, offers English-taught undergraduate programmes in partnership with CUHK and Shenzhen University.
Shenzhen MSU-BIT University, founded in 2016, brings together Moscow State University, Beijing Institute of Technology and the Shenzhen government, offering interdisciplinary programmes in areas such as applied mathematics, IT and aerospace.
The appeal of JVUs is evident from record-breaking application numbers. Both DKU and NYU Shanghai reported unprecedented interest for their 2025 enrolment cycles, with Chinese students making up the largest share of applicants.
The trend aligns with a broader shift, as Chinese enrolment in US universities has fallen from a peak of 372,000 to 277,000 in 2024, driven by geopolitical tensions and visa challenges.
Dong Jingyu, a first-year high school student from Shaanxi province studying science, said she wanted to build a career overseas and SJTU’s partnership with NTU, as well as CUHK-Shenzhen, might help her get there.
“I hope to attend a top-tier school. Both SJTU and NTU are globally renowned universities, offering a prestigious platform that aligns with my plans for career development,” she said.
“With English as the instruction language and a combination of China’s strengths and Western perspectives, these JVUs can help you get into top postgraduate programmes around the world. They provide cross-cultural education with the convenience and affordability of staying closer to home,” she said.
[JVUs] provide cross-cultural education with the convenience and affordability of staying closer to home
Dong Jingyu, high school student
A 22-year-old fourth-year university student from Sichuan province, who gave her name as Cathy, said the “0.5+0.5 model” in SJTU’s programmes was attractive.
“SJTU’s Zhangjiang International College is essentially a collaboration between two powerhouses – one domestic and one international – which is incredibly attractive to me,” Cathy said.
“Spending half the year in Singapore and the other half in Shanghai is an incredible set-up.
“In Shanghai, you can balance internships and gain local experience, while Singapore offers an enriching overseas study opportunity.”
She said geopolitical risks were also a reason to rule out studying in the United States.
In the US, China remains the largest source of international students, accounting for around one-quarter of the total. And despite the recent decline, the US continues to be the top destination for Chinese students.
However, the future of Chinese student migration to the US faces growing uncertainty. In May, Washington announced plans to “aggressively revoke” visas for certain Chinese students, particularly those with ties to the Communist Party or studying “critical fields”, such as advanced STEM disciplines.
The administration later softened its position amid trade negotiations, with US President Donald Trump even pledging to admit 600,000 Chinese students. But the heightened scrutiny of international students remains a concern.
“The geopolitical climate and safety were major considerations, particularly since my parents are funding my education – they were very worried about these issues. Therefore, studying in the US was completely off the table for me,” Cathy said.
Li noted that the surging applications for NYU Shanghai and DKU were naturally a result of shrinking supply.
“But it also highlights the consistent demand and interest for elite US education among Chinese students and parents, regardless of the broader political climate.”


For Beijing, there may be many strategic advantages to come out of its diversification push.
“If China envisions a future of greater international influence, its society must become far more internationally embedded than it is today. This inevitably requires cultivating talent with a global mindset and transnational experience,” Li said.
He added that diversification made China’s talent pipeline more resilient, and a broader array of partners reduced the leverage any single nation had over China’s education exchanges.
Diversification also strengthened China’s education system by spreading geopolitical risk and tapping into various countries’ unique strengths.
According to Simon, having a wide range of partners would allow China to gain access to the different arenas of excellence on offer, such as German-style applied engineering ecosystems, British strengths in certain research-intensive fields and credential prestige, and South Korea in advanced manufacturing and electronics ecosystems.
“This lets China assemble a ‘modular’ capability stack rather than betting on one system … Joint cooperative programmes are a way to import teaching models, lab pedagogy and quality assurance practices – often more quickly than domestic reform alone,” he said.
Meanwhile, Li also noted that China’s partnership selection was undergoing a quieter, grass-roots form of transformation from “elite-to-elite” partnerships – such as collaborations between Ivy League institutions and China’s most prestigious research universities – to “applied-to-applied” partnerships that linked provincial universities and vocational colleges.
“This aligns with China’s push for the internationalisation of vocational education. Such partnerships attract less political scrutiny than high-end research collaborations but are crucial for China’s manufacturing base,” Li said.
“This is a quieter, grass-roots form of international partnership that flies under the radar of geopolitical crossfire.”


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Many elite Sino-American ventures have ended under the strain of geopolitics but other, more diverse, programmes are emerging


Many elite Sino-American ventures have ended under the strain of geopolitics but other, more diverse, programmes are emerging.


As US universities retreat from China partnerships, who is filling the academic void?

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Many elite Sino-American ventures have ended under the strain of geopolitics but other, more diverse, programmes are emerging

Many elite Sino-American ventures have ended under the strain of geopolitics but other, more diverse, programmes are emerging