Seminal US-China science pact renewed for 5 years with ‘guardrails’ for researchers, data

Beijing and Washington have agreed to renew a 45-year-old science and technology agreement for five years, bringing in substantial revisions and marking a long-awaited breakthrough nod to cooperation amid tense ties.

The representatives of the Chinese and American governments signed the new deal in an “exchange of notes” in Beijing on December 13, China’s Ministry of Science and Technology said in a short statement on Friday.

Typically renewed every five years, the US-China Science and Technology Cooperation Agreement (STA) was last fully renewed under the first Donald Trump administration. It received a six-month extension instead of a full renewal in August 2023 and was extended again in February 2024 for another six months.

The agreement contains “guardrails” like “strengthened provisions on researcher safety, dispute resolution and data reciprocity”, according to a State Department spokesperson.

It also includes enhanced inter-agency review within the US government of current and future cooperation initiatives, the spokesperson said.

For decades, the STA fostered scientific collaboration by providing a legal and political framework for American and Chinese researchers to secure funding and pursue joint projects.