A faculty member from Tsinghua University's School of Economics and Management (Tsinghua SEM) has had a paper published in Science examining how changes in the external knowledge environment shape the innovation strategies of Chinese firms.

The leading international multidisciplinary academic journal published the paper by Professor Li Xibao of the Department of Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Strategy at Tsinghua SEM and his coauthors on September 17, 2026. It is the first paper by a Tsinghua SEM faculty member to be published in the journal.

According to the study, when firms face dramatic shifts in their external knowledge environment, they make significantly greater use of scientific knowledge in innovation and expand the spatial and temporal scope of their scientific search. The authors also found that companies engage more actively in the production of scientific knowledge through both in-house research and industry–university collaboration, thereby building their capacity to learn and absorb new knowledge. The findings suggest that the innovation system of Chinese firms is highly resilient: firms can adjust their innovation strategies promptly in response to external changes and accelerate their transition toward science-driven innovation.

The paper's first author, Wang Junhan, is a 2025 PhD graduate of the Department of Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Strategy, Tsinghua SEM, and Li Xibao, Wang Junhan's doctoral advisor, is a co-corresponding author of the paper. The publication showcases the achievements of Tsinghua University and Tsinghua SEM in cultivating academic talent and building an internationally influential academic base.

Article Information:

Article: Wang Junhan, Li Xibao, Wang Yanbo (2026). Geopolitical Tensions with the US Accelerate Chinese Firms' Leveraging of Science. Science 393 (6817), 1196-1199.

Link: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aed7991

Authors:

First Author: Wang Junhan (Shenzhen University)

Corresponding author：Li Xibao (Tsinghua University）

Corresponding author: Wang Yanbo (University of Hong Kong)

Source: Department of Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Strategy

Editor: Ren Zhongxi