Knowledge Bank

Contacts between Western and Chinese scientists have been minimal during the last 28 years. The visit of the 10 man geography delegation of the Ohio Academy of Science in August 1977 may signal a change of Chinese policy toward expanded scientific contacts. Chinese geographical studies tend to be applied rather than theoretical and conceptual. Geographers frequently work on multidisciplinary study teams. Direction of research tends to be centralized. Suffering from a long period of social stigma and neglect, academicians appear to be returning to a position of useful service in Chinese society. Research conducted at the Institute of Geography, Peking, as well as elsewhere in China, is of high quality, although emphasis continues to be placed primarily on physical geography.