Seven Sons of National Defence

The Seven Sons of National Defence is a grouping of the public universities affiliated with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of China. They are widely believed to have close scientific research partnerships and projects with the People’s Liberation Army.

Universities
The universities of the Seven Sons of National Defence include:
 * Beihang University in Haidian, Beijing
 * Beijing Institute of Technology in Haidian, Beijing
 * Harbin Engineering University in Harbin, Heilongjiang
 * Harbin Institute of Technology in Harbin, Heilongjiang
 * Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics in Nanjing, Jiangsu
 * Nanjing University of Science and Technology in Nanjing, Jiangsu
 * Northwestern Polytechnical University in Xi'an, Shaanxi

Views
Three quarters of university graduates recruited by defense related state-owned enterprises in China come from the Seven Sons. The Seven Sons devote at least half of their research budgets to military products.

According to the Hoover Institution, the Seven Sons "operate as prime pathways for harvesting US research and diverting it to military applications."

In 2020, the United States government banned students from the Seven Sons schools to study in graduate programs in the United States.