ultiple European funders of the scientific collaboration with China in multiple fields of research, such as viruses and air quality. They have also put bilateral
research programs on hold due to concerns they have about Chinese data protection laws.
The suspension, reported by Reuters for the first time after inquiries to the funding agencies, underscores the growing impact of China's data protection law, which has already disrupted some business ventures as global institutions and companies evaluate how to comply with the regulations.
Even more so, while many countries need various protections and privacy safeguards for their research involving their citizens, one of China’s most recent laws, which is known as the Data Security Law, will make it illegal the share any “important data” without approval.
Three European funding bodies—the German Research Foundation, Swedish Research Council, and Swiss National Science Foundation—told Reuters they have not provided new co-funding for projects with China’s National Natural Science Foundation (NSFC) since 2021, when the data protection law came into effect.
They have also said that new research programs will not be funded with the NSFC due to fears regarding access to data, potential conflict with local data laws, or even legal liabilities for themselves or research institutes for breaches of the law’s low definition.
Subscribe to our newsletter
A key concern is the ambiguity around what qualifies as “important data,” a classification that requires security clearance from China’s Cyberspace Administration for export.
The Swiss National Science Foundation reported for Reuters, "It is not clear what the definition of 'important data' is," also adding, "It is therefore difficult for the Swiss research community to assess when and under what circumstances a research collaboration could be subject to sanctions or even penalties."
China has even defined “important data” as data that is used in order to pose a threat to the national and economic interests or even affect the rights of individuals or organizations.
However, the German Research Foundation told Reuters that a dataset classified as “important data” would be difficult to export from China to another country.
Secretary-general of the Guild of European Research-Intensive Universities, Jan Palmowski, told reporters, “The concerns about how the data laws are being applied exist, and are very real,".
Palmowski also added “We saw that responding to the COVID pandemic effectively required global sharing of data on a massive scale; but we have also seen national sensitivities around data relating to the origin of COVID," and that "If we want to be agile in responding to future pandemics and address other key health challenges, we need to find ways to share data responsibly, safely, and according to common ethical rules."
.webp)
.webp)
