Malta’s engagement with China is a relatively recent phenomenon. Although cooperation began in 2009, activity has increased sharply over the past two years. Contrary to the growing skepticism and the publication of research guidelines across European countries, Malta appears to remain open to Chinese students and researchers.
As part of this project, we have investigated links to China among four public and twelve private universities. This analysis identified four Maltese universities that maintain links with Chinese partners. Altogether, these institutions have at least 29 connections to China. Of these, 26 were entered by Maltese public universities: the University of Malta, Malta College for Arts, Science and Technology, and the Institute of Tourism Studies of Malta. The Institute of Tourism Studies also maintains campuses in Shanghai and Zhengzhou.
In addition to its ties with public universities, the American University of Malta (AUM), based in Cospicua, has maintained ties with three Chinese counterparts since 2019. Whereas public universities predominantly focus on joint research or short-term student and faculty exchanges, AUM offers a double-degree program. However, in 2019, media reports noted a lack of English-language proficiency as a significant barrier to deeper collaboration with Chinese students. Furthermore, despite efforts to establish cooperation with universities in China, India, and Ghana, AUM has struggled to fill its campuses since its opening in 2017. It has been controversial from the outset, as it was developed by a Jordanian company with no prior experience in the education sector.
In recent years, cooperation between Maltese and Chinese universities has grown significantly, with 2021 and 2024 standing out as peak years, each seeing the establishment of eight new partnerships. At a time when many European countries are reexamining their research ties to China and increasingly implementing due diligence processes, this development in Malta may seem unusual. However, it reflects the country’s strong economic ties with China, particularly in key sectors such as ports, energy grid, and telecommunications. The intensifying academic links are thus part of a broader context in which Malta positions itself as “China’s friend in Europe,” as emphasized by Maltese Foreign Minister Ian Borg during his 2023 visit to Beijing.
Transparency
Since 2012, Maltese residents have been able to request information from universities under the Freedom of Information Act. However, due to legal constraints related to residency status, this study is based solely on information obtained from open sources.
Confucius Institutes
As of 2025, a single Confucius Institute is operating in Malta, located at the University of Malta in Msida. This institute was established in 2009 through a cooperative agreement between the University of Malta and Xiamen University in China, under the framework of the Confucius Institute Headquarters, now the Center for Language Education and Cooperation. In addition to the institute, cooperation with other Chinese counterparts ensures the provision of Chinese language and culture courses at Maltese universities, including the American University of Malta’s collaboration with East China Normal University and the University of Malta’s cooperation with Beijing Foreign Studies University.
The primary role of the Confucius Institute at the University of Malta is to teach Chinese language and culture. In addition to formal credit-bearing courses, the Institute organizes extracurricular activities, such as the annual “Chinese Bridge” Chinese Proficiency Competition. It hosts public seminars, film screenings, and cultural festivals that engage both the university community and the wider Maltese community. The Institute serves as Malta’s exclusive testing center for the HSK examination, offering all six levels of the writing test and three levels of the speaking test, thereby enabling Maltese students and professionals to obtain internationally recognized Chinese language certifications. To date, there have been no documented controversies in Malta regarding academic freedom or attempts to censor course content within the Institute.
Military-linked cooperation
Malta’s National Research and Innovation Strategic Plan 2023–27 does not address research security, and no national guidelines on research security have been adopted to date. However, the University of Malta has facilitated access to a series of online events on research security, hosted by ARMA UK and EARMA.
Out of the 29 identified cooperation links between Maltese and Chinese institutions, 9 are considered as potentially risky due to their links to the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), with two of the cooperations with Beijing Institute of Technology (BIT) and one link with Harbin Engineering University, classified as “very high” risk based on the ASPI Defense University Tracker. These universities are considered part of the “Seven Sons of National Defense,” a group of China’s leading research and development universities, as approximately 30% of their graduates work in the defense sector.
At least two Maltese universities maintain relations with BIT: the University of Malta, based in Msida, and Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology (MCAST), based in Paola. Both collaborations began in 2024. The University of Malta is conducting a joint research project with BIT on energy transitions, green energy, and EV charging options. On the other hand, in the case of MCAST, the nature and aims of the cooperation are not documented in publicly available sources. Furthermore, the University of Malta conducts joint research with Harbin Engineering University and the Henan Diesel Engines Industry Company, focusing on dual-use marine engines that are designed to operate on a diesel-gas mixture to reduce carbon emissions. The same university also cooperates with Southeast University, considered an institution of “high” risk potential, on a joint research project focusing on additive manufacturing of parts and components used in marine transportation.
Besides, the University of Malta maintains cooperation with four Chinese universities with “medium risk” potential. First, it collaborates with Ocean University of China, based in Qingdao, on a joint research project on groundwater resources management. The second link is to Xiamen University, which helped establish and further maintain the only Confucius Institute in Malta, and the cooperation primarily focuses on Chinese-language teaching, based on open-source information. Third, it maintains ties with the Southern University of Science and Technology in Shenzhen, with which it conducts research in artificial intelligence. The fourth cooperation focuses on medicine, specifically the treatment of hemophilia, which the University of Malta conducts together with Soochow University (Suzhou).
Among private universities, the American University of Malta collaborates with East China Normal University, which is classified as a low-risk institution by the ASPI tracker, on Chinese language instruction.
Technology research
The cooperation between Maltese and Chinese universities predominantly focuses on culture, economic and business areas, and Chinese/Maltese language exchanges. Of the 30 ties, only 10 focus on research in technological areas, most of which occur in collaboration with institutions linked to the PLA, as described in the previous section.
The Sino-Malta Fund serves as a key platform for deepening scientific collaboration between Malta and China, with the goal of strengthening research and development, promoting technology transfer, and fostering comprehensive, steady, and long-term cooperation. Launched in 2019, the Fund is a bilateral research initiative jointly administered by the Malta Council for Science and Technology and China’s Ministry of Science and Technology. It originated from an initial agreement on science and technological cooperation between the Government of Malta and the Government of the People’s Republic of China, which was further developed through the efforts of the Joint Committee for Cooperation.
The Fund is awarded annually, and the 2023 Call for Proposals marked a significant expansion, with approximately €1.2 million allocated by the Maltese side and matched by China. Since its inception, the Fund has supported more than a dozen joint research projects in diverse areas, including environmental robotics, maritime mapping, aerospace systems, and digital health.
Way forward
In the context of the warm ties between Malta and China, including support among Maltese political elites for strengthening these ties, it may be anticipated that the cooperation that has notably intensified in the past five years will continue along the established path. No revision of mutual ties, particularly in cooperation with military-linked universities or in emerging technologies, appears to be underway in the small-island country, at least publicly. As such, the Maltese government and higher education institutions do not appear to reflect the current EU-wide debate and the publication of research security guidelines across the continent. Consequently, without discussion of the importance of due diligence and the potential underlying risks, focusing on academic ties with China may make Malta an inconspicuous gateway for Chinese academics and students to enter Europe, including those from military-linked institutions.
Explore more data on Malta-China academic engagements here.
