Transnational social spaces, guanxi, and resource mobilization in US-China collaboration on COVID-19-related research

Abstract

Abstract This study investigates the quality and intensity of collaborations between US and Chinese scientists. It examines differences in the self-reported roles and responsibilities of scientists across three groups: US Chinese, US non-Chinese, and China-based scientists, and the reasons why such differences may have emerged. The study employed a sequential exploratory mixed methods design, collecting interview and survey data from US-based and China-based scientists who co-published articles related to COVID-19. The findings generally showed that Chinese scientists in the US and China were more highly involved in research projects compared to their non-Chinese counterparts. Higher levels of involvement included greater intellectual contributions, more time and energy exerted, and more financial and material support provided. The findings also revealed that differences between the three groups of scientists can be explained by the US non-Chinese scientists’ limited involvement in many projects, by the US Chinese scientists’ transmigrant experiences and their embeddedness in transnational guanxi networks, and by the focus of many projects being on COVID-19 in China.