The Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) has significantly expanded its China Defence Universities Tracker, transforming it into a comprehensive database of over 180 Chinese civilian and military research institutions. This tool, which has become an indispensable resource for governments, universities, and corporations, now offers deeper insights into the military and security links between Chinese institutions and the state. The tracker’s global reach is evident in its user base, with heavy traffic from the United States and China, followed by Japan, Hong Kong, Australia, Canada, Britain, Germany, Singapore, France, Taiwan, the Netherlands, Russia, and India.
ASPI’s expansion comes at a critical juncture, as China and Russia strengthen their military and technological ties, framing their partnership as the foundation of a rising illiberal world order. The tracker, which initially focused on Beijing’s military-civil fusion agenda, has evolved to address a more complex and dangerous landscape. Since 2019, top Chinese universities have significantly increased their research partnerships with Russian institutions, particularly in critical and dual-use technologies. This raises concerns that China-connected research could indirectly support Russia’s war in Ukraine, providing Moscow with access to innovations that help circumvent Western sanctions and export controls.
“What began as a tool to illuminate China’s defence-linked higher education sector has now also become a resource for understanding how authoritarian powers build cooperative research ecosystems that can undermine Western security and resilience,” ASPI stated.
The tracker now provides evidence to map, monitor, and mitigate these transnational research links. It also reveals that dozens of China’s top universities have deepened their research and development partnerships with Chinese state-owned defence manufacturers, heightening the risk that research engagements with Chinese universities could support China’s military modernisation. ASPI has updated risk ratings throughout the tracker to reflect this heightened risk.
As international scrutiny of Chinese-foreign joint venture universities has grown, ASPI has added three prominent joint ventures to the tracker, allowing users to easily compare the relative risks of joint venture universities and Chinese universities. Expanded research on international collaborations also shows that Chinese universities are still partnering with British and European institutions with the explicit goal of advancing China’s national aerospace industry.
The tracker now includes the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), the world’s largest scientific research institution, and 10 affiliated institutes. Users can quickly see why CAS occupies such a preeminent place in global science research, as the tracker features CAS’s global and national rankings in 64 critical technologies tracked by ASPI, including the 31 critical technologies where CAS leads the world in high-impact research. These fields include quantum sensors, high-performance computing, and advanced robotics.
Previous ASPI research has shown that while China overwhelmingly leads in high-impact research in critical technologies, it has historically lagged in its ability to industrialise and commercialise that research into real-world technological capabilities. However, new tracker findings show that the Chinese government has implemented sweeping changes to bridge this gap through the establishment of on-campus technology transfer centres and new research centres sponsored by China’s top tech companies. This puts new research advances straight into the hands of companies that can develop and market them.
These new research findings have been applied to more than 60 universities and institutes in the tracker database, complementing the existing database of nearly 100 civilian universities, 50 People’s Liberation Army institutions, China’s nuclear weapons program, three Ministry of State Security institutions, four Ministry of Public Security universities, and 12 state-owned defence industry conglomerates.
From early 2026, updates will see new institutions added to the tracker and research additions extended to more existing institutions. ASPI is also excited to announce an exclusive new partnership with corporate intelligence platform WireScreen, allowing the tracker to provide new details about corporate ties and technology procurement for more than 50 universities and institutes.
This expansion underscores the tracker’s role in supporting informed decision-making that protects research integrity while preserving the benefits of international collaboration. As China and Russia deepen their military and technological ties, the tracker’s strategic relevance has never been greater.