This study, written by Ivana Karásková, Veronika Blablová and Filip Šebok from the Association for International Affairs (AMO), Czechia, looks at the state of knowledge protection in the EU and China’s approach to STI and its goals in Europe. Authors examine the scope of cooperation in STEM areas with China in three EU member states (Austria, Czech Republic and Slovakia), utilizing open-source data on scientific cooperation. 

Based on these findings, the paper formulates China-specific, evidence-based guidelines for European stakeholders, including higher education institutions (HEIs) and research centres in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects. While the guidelines are informed by the findings in Central Europe, they are widely applicable in other member states and may contribute to initiating a more informed debate on knowledge security and trusted research at the level of the EU in general, and on the opportunities and risks of scientific collaboration with China in particular.