IDS welcomes UK-China agreement on research partnerships but is concerned by absence of social sciences
20 June 2014
Earlier this week, the UK and China agreed to a research partnership deal worth over £50 million to tackle global issues such as climate change, long-term renewable energy supplies and human diseases. While welcoming this joint commitment to research, members of the IDS Rising Powers in International Development would also like to see greater investment in the social sciences.
Chinese Premier, Li Keqiang, has spent this week visiting the UK and, much like his recent visit to Africa, this has resulted in a number of announcements which demonstrate China’s increasing willingness to engage and show leadership beyond its immediate borders. IDS welcomes the significant commitment to research partnerships between the two countries, however would like to see it expanded to include social sciences which have an important role to play in chosen areas of focus.
IDS has long been researching the growing role of China in the context of international development, working alongside its Chinese partners on a wide range of issues including on business and economy, climate mitigation and adaptation, health and global governance. The Rising Powers in International Development programme (RPID)builds on this legacy and is looking at the role of the BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) in development cooperation and producing practical policy guidance on effective approaches for engaging with them. It has a particular focus on exploring their contribution to global public goods, looking at key sectors, such as energy, and examines the political and institutional drivers and barriers for action.
RPID Convenor, and IDS Fellow, Jing Gu said:"I welcome this commitment. IDS' long history of collaborative research on China dates back to the 1970s. Our work focused on aspects of China's internal economic, social and political reform and development processes. Uniquely within the China field, these questions were framed from a 'development studies' perspective. In response to China's dramatic emergence onto the world stage, IDS research is also shifting, and, over the last three years, our Rising Powers in International Development programme has reflected these changing global realities."
Significant work has also been carried out on Chinese private sector investment in Africa, examining the motivations of Chinese firms investing in the region. Recently we have launched a new project on UK-China Cooperation on African Trade and Investment for Poverty Reduction'.
In a statement by Richard Carey and Li Xiaoyun, who lead the China International Development Research Network and also sit on the RPID Advisory Council, they said: "As underlined in our blog last week on Chinese Premier Li Keqiang’s recent speech to the AU, joint efforts are essential to helping Africa implement its emerging development Agenda 2063. We are currently involved in spearheading a development research programme, with DFID support, involving 26 research institutes in China, which will help illuminate China's development knowledge and contribution, and have seen a real and positive benefit in developing research partnerships between the two countries."
