China

Oxford has significant links with China. The University of Oxford China Centre, which focuses on research in the social sciences and humanities, is Europe’s largest centre dedicated to the study of China. Oxford is also a leading scientific and medical collaborator with China, and has invested in collaborative centres in mainland China, Hong Kong and the UK.  Notably, China has been, for more than a decade, one of Oxford's largest sources of international students.

Centuries of studying China at Oxford

Oxford's engagement with China began in the 17th century, when the Bodleian library acquired its first Chinese manuscript (1604) and the University welcomed its first Chinese visitor (1684). We established our first professorship of Chinese in 1875, and introduced a BA in Chinese in 1939.

Established links with China

Oxford University Press in China was first established in the early 20th century, but was re-established in 1961 in Hong Kong after the two World Wars. It now operates in four other offices in Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen and Macao and serves millions of English language learners and readers in the country.

Since 2007, the University has had the Oxford China Office in Hong Kong, which focuses on alumni and external relations and development activities in China and across the region.

Collaborations with Chinese institutions

The University has formal partnership and collaboration agreements with some of China’s top universities and research institutions including the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Tsinghua University, Peking University and Beijing Institute of Aeronautical Materials (BIAM). Oxford’s Department of Continuing Education has also trained more than 10,000 Chinese government and university officials through its leadership programmes.

The Oxford Suzhou Centre for Advanced Research (OSCAR), opened in 2018, is the University's first overseas centre for physical science and engineering research. Primarily expanding on activities from across the University's Mathematical, Physical and Life Sciences Division, it offers scientists the opportunity to undertake research in applied science fields in proximity to Chinese industry and science and technology institutes. Based in the Souzhou Industrial Park, researchers have access to state-of-the-art facilities in a research environment enriched by numerous universities and research institutions, and a substantial industrial base. Research is directed by University of Oxford academic staff, with most of the research undertaken by researchers employed locally by OSCAR.

The Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences has its first Medical Sciences Institute in the UK, in a collaboration with Oxford. The Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences Oxford Institute hosts collaborative work between researchers in Oxford and China, and a DPhil/MD programme for students of selected Chinese institutions, sponsored by the China Scholarship Council. Then vice premier of China, Liu Yandong, attended the signing of the agreement establishing the Institute, held in Oxford in 2017.

The China Kadoorie Biobank is a major long-term prospective cohort study that looks at the interplay of lifestyle, environment and genetic susceptibility as causes of chronic disease. It holds information and biological samples from over 510,000 participants in China, and tracks those individuals' subsequent major health events until the end of their lives. The information can be used to see what effect some factor had on the group's health and mortality. Findings from the China Kadoorie Biobank have covered smoking as a cause of death in China, the health effects of indoor air pollution, physical activity and heart disease/stroke risk, and many other topics. The Biobank is a collaboration between Oxford's Clinical Trial Service Unit, the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences (CAMS) and Peking University.

Asia is the world's most densely populated continent and suffers the highest number of natural disasters. The health impact of these disasters is exacerbated by the gap between rich and poor in many Asian countries, as well as a lack of understanding about how to manage disaster responses. In an effort to build up the continent’s resilience to natural disasters, Oxford and The Chinese University of Hong Kong joined together to create the Collaborating Centre for Oxford University and CUHK for Disaster and Medical Humanitarian Response (CCOUC). The Centre is a non-profit research body that carries out research, training and community knowledge transfer in disaster and medical humanitarian response in Greater China and the Asia-Pacific Region.