The University of Michigan has announced several agreements with Chinese institutions focused on solving problems associated with safe drinking water and the future of transportation.

The agreements, when finalized, will provide more than $54 million to jumpstart and advance research in key areas. In the area of clean water technology, for example, the Beijing Institute for Collaborative Innovation and Southern University of Science and Technology have agreed to a five-year, $25 million partnership to establish a Global Collaboratory in Water Technology at sites in Ann Arbor, Beijing, and Shenzhen, with funding to be provided by the Beijing Institute, an innovation-focused organization founded by fourteen Chinese universities.

The university also has reached a $27 million agreement with Shenzhen-based investment firm Frontt Capital Management to advance research on connected and autonomous vehicles and robotic technologies. The effort will include a Joint Research Center for Intelligent Vehicles at U-M and funding toward construction of a recently approved Robotics Laboratory and vehicle garage on U-M's North Campus near Mcity, its simulated urban-suburban environment for testing connected and automated vehicles.

In addition, a $2.5 million agreement with Chongqing Sokon Industry Group will establish a University of Michigan-Sokon Research Center in the U-M Department of Mechanical Engineering. Sokon will provide funding for the center, which will work to advance research on connected and automated vehicles through the work of faculty members, postdoctoral researchers, and graduate students at both institutions.

"Societal challenges such as water quality and the safety and sustainability of transportation transcend national borders," said S. Jack Hu, the J. Reid and Polly Anderson Professor of Manufacturing at Michigan Engineering and vice president for research at U-M. "These collaborations bring together the complementary expertise, resources, and cultural perspectives of the U.S. and China to find realistic solutions to these extraordinarily complex global problems for the benefit of all."