A major British research university’s joint venture campus in China has been found to maintain partnerships with entities sanctioned by Britain, the US, EU, and other countries for supporting Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and aiding China’s military modernisation and human rights violations. This revelation underscores the risks posed by foreign science, technology, and academic partnerships in China amid heightened geopolitical rivalry, intensifying technological competition, and deepening China-Russia cooperation.
Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University (XJTLU), established in 2006 by the University of Liverpool and Xi’an Jiaotong University, is the largest foreign joint venture university in China. Located in Suzhou, XJTLU offers undergraduate degrees accredited by both institutions. The university has become a research powerhouse with around 25,000 students and 1,000 academic staff members, housing several key research institutes, including a national supercomputing centre, a robotics research institute, and an advanced semiconductor research institute.
In November 2024, XJTLU launched the Centre for China-Russia Humanitarian Cooperation and Development. The centre’s stated purpose includes helping Chinese companies enter the Russian market and promoting research ties between China and Russia, as well as academic and cultural exchange. The Russian co-director of the centre is affiliated with a sanctioned Russian government agency, and the opening ceremony was attended by a Russian government delegation led by a former Russian senator sanctioned by multiple Western nations for supporting Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
XJTLU’s partnerships extend to critical technologies with both military and civilian applications. In April 2025, XJTLU partnered with the National Supercomputing Center in Wuxi, one of seven Chinese supercomputing groups added to the US federal entity list in 2021 for their involvement in China’s military modernisation efforts. Additionally, the XJTLU School of CHIPS, co-founded in 2019 by a Chinese government research institute placed on the US entity list in 2024, focuses on advanced computing chips. The dean of the School of CHIPS, Wei Chen, has expressed the goal of designing and manufacturing semiconductors at XJTLU.
The University of Liverpool, a member of Britain’s prestigious Russell Group of research-intensive universities, has received defence, security, and intelligence funding from Western governments. In September 2024, the University of Liverpool was named an inaugural winner of the AUKUS Electronic Warfare Innovation Prize Challenge. Despite these ties, a University of Liverpool spokesperson stated that the university has no involvement in XJTLU’s Centre for China-Russia Humanitarian Cooperation and Development or with the companies mentioned. The spokesperson emphasised that all joint research and supervision are subject to rigorous due diligence policies and compliance with UK export control and national security legislation.
The current vice-chancellor of the University of Liverpool, like his predecessor, sits on XJTLU’s board and is its deputy chair. Other senior staff from the University of Liverpool also serve as XJTLU board members. Board meeting locations rotate, with recent meetings held at the campuses of the University of Liverpool and Xi’an Jiaotong University.
XJTLU’s emphasis on cutting-edge research places it in a highly contested space, as strategic technological competition between China and Western countries intensifies. The university’s partnerships with groups on the US federal entity list highlight the complex landscape of international academic and technological collaboration in an era of geopolitical tension. As Beijing and Moscow deepen their bilateral ties, the risks and implications of such partnerships become increasingly significant.