Chinese Government Exploiting UK Universities to Advance Military Technology
- Strider identifies over 8,000 joint publications and collaborations between UK researchers and Chinese military-linked institutions since 2020.
- Collaborations cover technologies that could enhance China’s military capability.
- Includes nearly 400 papers co-authored with a Chinese military university sanctioned by the U.S. for national security risks.
London (7th December 2025): Strider Technologies, the leading provider of strategic intelligence, has today published a new report revealing extensive collaboration between UK Universities and Chinese state-linked institutions that develop technology for military use.
The report warns that the People’s Republic of China (PRC) is exploiting the openness of the UK’s innovation system to strengthen its defence and strategic capabilities.
Strider’s report – From Innovation to Weaponisation: How China Exploits the UK Open Scientific System – finds that since 2020 more than 5,000 UK-based researchers have co-authored over 8,000 scientific papers with research organisations linked to the People’s Liberation Army (PLA). These partnerships look at critical technologies such as artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and aerospace engineering, as well as areas with clear military relevance including anti-jamming communications, hypersonics, and laser-directed energy deposition.
The report highlights significant collaboration with the “Seven Sons of National Defence,” a consortium of PRC universities integral to the country’s defence and weapons development. It also documents nearly 400 joint publications with the PLA National University of Defence Technology, an institution subordinate to the Central Military Commission of the Chinese Communist Party and sanctioned by the U.S. government for posing national security risks.
“Academic openness is one of the UK’s great strengths, but that openness has been exploited by the Chinese Communist Party,” said Eric Levesque, President and Co-Founder of Strider. “Our analysis shows that the PRC government is systematically leveraging UK scientific partnerships to accelerate its technological and military ambitions. These are not benign collaborations. They involve state-run research entities that directly support China’s defence establishment, advancing the PLA at the expense of the UK.”
Levesque continued: “This is not about blaming individual academics; it’s about recognising a systemic risk. UK universities and research bodies are being targeted precisely because they lead the world in areas that underpin next-generation defence and intelligence capabilities. The government has taken important steps, but voluntary compliance and awareness campaigns are not enough. It’s time for universities to take a clear stand and end research that contributes to China’s military build-up.”
In 2023, Parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee labelled the PRC a ‘strategic threat’ and stated that ‘the UK’s academic institutions provide a rich feeding ground for China to achieve both political influence and economic advantage by…obtaining Intellectual Property (IP) by directing or stealing UK academic research in order to build, or short-cut to, Chinese expertise.’
Despite new guidance from the UK government and enhanced national security measures, Strider’s analysis finds that collaboration between UK researchers and PLA-affiliated research institutions (PLA-RIs) has remained persistently high over the past five years. These partnerships provide pathways for knowledge transfer, talent recruitment, and potential exploitation by China’s state-directed science and technology apparatus. Specifically, Strider found that:
- Despite increased government efforts to strengthen research security and raise institutional awareness, collaboration between UK researchers and PLA-RI has remained persistently high since 2020, averaging more than 1,500 joint publications annually through 2024.
- More than 100 UK organisations have collaborated with a PLA-RI on STEM topics since 2020. Among the UK organisations that have the most instances of collaboration with PLA-RI are leading universities and government laboratories.
The full report, From Innovation to Weaponisation: How China Exploits the UK Open Scientific System, is available here.
About Strider
Strider is the leading strategic intelligence company empowering organizations to secure and advance their technology and innovation. Leveraging cutting-edge AI technology alongside proprietary methodologies, Strider transforms publicly available data into critical insights. This increased intelligence enables organizations to proactively address and respond to risks associated with state-sponsored intellectual property theft, targeted talent acquisition, and third-party partners. Strider has operations in 15 countries around the globe with offices in Salt Lake City, Washington, DC, London, Tokyo; and Sydney.
