China's Defense Universities Help Russia Offset Sanctions And Export Controls, New Research Shows

Summary

Chinese defense-linked universities have significantly increased research partnerships with Russian institutions since 2019, according to findings by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI).
These collaborations provide Moscow access to strategic technologies cut off by Western sanctions, while aiding China’s advancements in aerospace research.
Key partnerships include Beihang University and the Moscow Aviation Institute, focusing on aircraft engine development, and Xi’an Technological University with the Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University on advanced weapons systems.

New research shared with RFE/RL shows that leading Chinese universities linked to the country’s defense sector have significantly increased their research partnerships with Russian institutions, providing Moscow with access to new technology and expertise that can help counteract Western sanctions applied since the Kremlin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The preliminary findings compiled by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) think tank and cross-referenced by RFE/RL show that all 68 Chinese universities officially described as parts of the country’s defense system or supervised by a defense agency have “deepened or dramatically deepened” their research ties with Russia since 2019.

This growing collaboration could give Moscow enhanced access to strategic technologies with military applications where China is a global powerhouse, while granting Beijing access to research and development in key sectors like aircraft engine production where Russia remains advanced, the research project’s lead author said.

“These are all universities tied to defense or the critical and dual-use technology ecosystem in China,” Bethany Allen, the head of China investigations at ASPI, told RFE/RL. “This could indirectly aid Russia’s war in Ukraine by providing access to innovations and know-how that help offset Western sanctions and export controls.”

Beijing and Moscow’s deepening cooperation through higher education marks another strategic area where their ties have expanded under Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping, which have grown even deeper since February 2022 when the two men declared a “no limits” partnership ahead of Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

While cooperation between Chinese and Russian institutions existed before then and is not limited to sectors with defense applications, research cooperation in this area has accelerated against the backdrop of the war in Ukraine, with ASPI’s preliminary data pointing to growing research partnerships concentrated around aeronautics and drone technology between both countries’ leading research bodies.

This comes as Western governments aim to limit academic collaboration with both countries and cut them off from access to strategic research.

“Russia finds itself cut off from Western scientific research to some extent after the invasion of Ukraine and Chinese research institutes are also facing new restrictions, particularly from the United States,” Allen said. “Against that pressure, they’ve decided it makes sense to cross-pollinate.”

A Focus On Drones and Advanced Engines

The research is part of an ongoing project launched in September by ASPI that tracks links between China’s civilian universities and the country’s military and security agencies, and the think tank shared its early findings about links between Chinese and Russian institutions with RFE/RL from the yet-to-be-finalized report.

China has prioritized building links between its civilian universities and the country’s military and security agencies.

The country has historically trained its defense scientists through a group of seven leading universities known as the “Seven Sons of National Defense,” but China’s ecosystem has grown in recent years with an additional 61 universities now officially described as parts of its defense network or supervised by the State Administration of Science, Technology, and Industry for National Defense, China’s defense industry agency.

It is universities from this pool that are partnering with Russian research institutions.

One notable partnership identified by ASPI is between the Moscow Aviation Institute (MAI) and Beihang University, which established a joint Master’s program in 2017. Beihang’s Aero-Engine Research Institute says that the program’s goal is to help the aircraft engine sector in China enter a “critical stage of transformation” from “testing and imitating research and development” to “independent development.”

This collaboration comes with clear benefits for both parties and dual-use applications, from the battlefield in Ukraine to monopolies over future critical technologies.

Beihang is one of the “Seven Sons” and is ranked as China’s top university for aerospace research, with a particular focus on drone production, drone swarming technology, and advanced aircraft engine research.

The United States is currently considered the world leader in advanced aircraft engine research, but China has clear aspirations to claim top spot. China is now responsible for a large portion of leading research in the field and has founded a number of new institutes focused on their advancement.

MAI is one of Russia’s top aerospace institutes and has spearheaded advanced research on aircraft engines. As Russian arms sales to Beijing have decreased in recent years due China’s increasing military self-sufficiency, aircraft engines have remained a steady import, even throughout the war in Ukraine.

“China has struggled to produce the most advanced aircraft engines, so this is an area where Russia can help,” Allen said.

Notable Examples Of China-Russia Research Programs

Xi’an Technological University is another “Seven Sons” university that forged new partnerships with Russia.

The school focuses on research for advanced weapons systems in conjunction with several Chinese weapons companies and set up a joint training program in 2023 with the Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University, which has some of Russia’s most advanced hydro-aerodynamics labs as well as close ties with Russia’s military-industrial complex.

The Russian university is heavily involved in the Kremlin’s war effort and its leadership has publicly supported the invasion of Ukraine. Its Special Technology Center is currently under US and EU sanctions and it developed the Orlan-10 UAV, one of the main drones used in Russian strikes on Ukraine’s critical infrastructure.

Another key center for China-Russia research is the Harbin Institute of Technology (HIT), one of China’s most important military research universities, which was sanctioned by the US government in 2020 for its alleged role in procuring items for Beijing's military.

While the institute has been home to exchanges and joint research between China and Russia for more than a century, it has expanded its connection with Russian universities in recent years.

HIT and the Bauman Moscow State Technical University created the Association of Sino-Russian Technical Universities in 2011 and since then it has expanded into a joint institute that houses 59 undergraduate students who study in both Russia and China.

HIT is also training more than 1,500 Chinese and Russian students at a new science education center created with St Petersburg State University. The Chinese university also signed a strategic cooperation agreement with the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology and the Russian Academy of Engineering in 2024, among a long list of growing agreements with Russian institutes.

Those deep links led Putin to visit HIT in 2024 as part of a state visit to China where he said the institution was “inseparably connected with Russia.”