Abstract Over the past decade, the German federal government has established the “China Competence” initiative both as a funding policy instrument and as a central pillar of its China strategy. Despite extensive funding schemes and sustained academic debate, it remains unclear how “China Competence” is conceptually defined and practically operationalized. Drawing on a retrospective policy analysis covering the period from 2015 to 2024, this article examines the discursive and practice-based construction and transformation of “China Competence” within funding governance. The analysis operates across three interrelated analytical levels: political decision-makers, funding recipients, and funded actsivities. The findings reveal a two-phase yet closely intertwined development trajectory: an initially cooperation-oriented phase centered on cultural understanding, language acquisition, and trust building, followed by a strategic reorientation toward de-risking, security governance, legal compliance, and policy-relevant expertise. On this empirical basis, the study advances a conceptual model that reconstructs “China Competence” as a dynamic concept constituted through discourse and practice. It further highlights the growing ambivalence faced by German higher education institutions as they navigate the tension between logics of cooperation and de-risking in contemporary Sino-German academic relations.
Xun Luo (Tue,) studied this question.