In the government's budget, there are proposals to invest SEK 18 million to build a knowledge center on China for three years, which SVT News previously reported. The China Center will be opened next year.

Russia Investment

For a long time, the issue of increased research has also been debated in Russia, and proposals for a total of 12 million over three years are now also available to increase knowledge about Russia and Eastern Europe.

Work on non-proliferation of nuclear weapons and disarmament is proposed to receive an additional appropriation of SEK 15 million in the government budget.

"Long-awaited investment"

Chinese advisor Kristina Sandklef welcomes the investment in increased research on China.

- It's a very long-awaited venture that comes late, but better late than never. The universities have had too few doctoral students in Chinese-related subjects. We therefore have a shortage of Swedish Chinese researchers. Those who have studied China and Chinese at Swedish universities can better understand the challenges of politicized Chinese research, says Kristina Sandklef, who is senior advisor on China at Consilio, a business consulting firm.

She believes that the government should also invest in China research in industrial and economic matters.

Research on Russia

The question of more Russia research has been investigated for a long time.

- This is a welcome investment. The subject has not been prioritized in academic circles for a while, says Martin Kragh, director of the Russia and Eurasia program at the Foreign Policy Institute in a comment to SVT News.

Soon, the government is expected to present a national China strategy.

"A challenge"

“China is a challenge. There are major problems in our relationship with China and there are also great opportunities. Therefore, it is good to lay down some handrails so that we get right, "said Annika Söder, Cabinet Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in an interview on Swedish Radio recently.