The international collaborative research effort is facing new challenges with expanding China’s Data Protection Regulations, especially the Data Security Law. This has worried both the United States and Europe, causing a number of Europe’s key funding agencies to suspend co-sponsored initiatives with China. This significantly affects areas such as health and environmental studies, which are rapidly evolving due to global collaborative technological advancement. These emerging Chinese rules concerning data sharing are creating obstacles that require strategic foresight, particularly for time-sensitive collaborative research.

The Growing Risk to International Collaborations

The challenges of foreign partnerships grew after the 2021 implementation of China’s Data Security Law. Under the law, any “important” data cannot be shared with international collaborators unless approved by the Chinese government. Although intended to boost national security, the ambiguity of “important data” leaves international partners vulnerable. In response, the German Foundation for Science and Humanities, the Swedish Research Council, and the Swiss National Science Foundation, three of Europe’s biggest funding institutions, have withdrawn new project co-fundings with China’s National Natural Science Foundation (NSFC).

The Effects on Global Health and Scientific Research

This suspension comes at a particularly untimely period as it impacts some of the most pivotal areas of science. Cooperative projects on international health concerns, specializing in infectious diseases, air pollution, and climate change, often require borderless data flow from various countries. The timing of the suspension of European funding for collaboration with China could not be worse when rapid data exchange is critical. The experience during the COVID-19 pandemic underscored the necessity of timely, transparent cross-border data sharing for effective crisis management. If we wish to be agile in responding to pandemics, we must find methods of sharing data that are “ethical, safe, and responsible as common frameworks.” The decision made by European agencies to suspend funding may further delay research within these health domains, and this affects the relative pace and the outcome of future global health activities.

Global Effect and Forecast Perspective

These rules circulation not only impacted Europe, but enslaved the United States, which previously worried about the broad scope of “Important Data.” However, the Institutions from US and Europe mostly converge, agreeing on the necessity to keep Scientific and Medical Research data accessible without restrictions. As China asserts increasingly tighter control over data sharing, the global scientific community may be impacted in profound and fundamental ways, as long-term disruptions. Until this issue is settled, it will rest on China’s reverse willingness to clarify the terms of its Data Security Law as well as specify what Collaborations, if any, can be constructed with international partners. Their resolution has a direct impact on the advancement of international research, addressing the protection of information while creating a climate of collaboration and knowledge dissemination towards resolving critical world issues.