Introduction: China’s rise and the new silk road in global context

The Introduction presents the conceptual framework of the research project: “The New Silk Road: Implications for higher education and research cooperation between China and Europe.” The areas of inquiry focused on are: the academic flows and activities emerging along the NSR; university responses and their rationales; the conditions under which activities are taking place; defined by whom, and the values underpinning the mission of the university in society. It places the NSR in global context: how China’s rise in science and higher education results in shifting global flows, impact, and rising tensions. It explores the evolving China–European relationship and concludes that while the idea or model of the university may travel along the NSR, it does not necessarily change because of it. Despite the current unknowns, in the long run, Chinese–European cooperation on or beyond the New Silk Road offers a new landscape for higher education on both ends of Eurasia.