This session will explore the China Journal Excellence Action Plan (CJEAP), a five-year initiative aimed at creating over 400 world-class, Chinese-owned scientific, technical, and medical (STM) journals. The plan represents a significant shift in China’s approach to scholarly publishing, as it seeks to strengthen domestic publishing capabilities, retain research that is currently published internationally, and capture revenue from article processing charges (APCs) that currently flow to foreign publishers. Attendees will gain insights into how this initiative positions China as a global leader in open access and scientific dissemination.

We will discuss how the CJEAP impacts Western scholarly publishers, who may face increased competition as Chinese journals rise in prominence and seek to attract both local and international authors. The session will examine the potential challenges for foreign publishers, particularly around APC pricing and the competition for high-quality Chinese research. However, we will also explore opportunities for collaboration between Chinese and Western publishers, such as joint ventures, co-publication agreements, and shared infrastructure that can help foster a more inclusive, global approach to open science. This session will also introduce the China Open Access Journal index (OAJ), developed by NSLC (Chinese Academy of Science)-CEPIEC "Open Access Resources Evaluation" Joint Laboratory.  The goal of this initiative is to foster the healthy development of the global OA ecosystem by collecting and highlighting high-quality OA journals. This session will give an overview of OAJ, and explain how journals can apply to be indexed, how the journals will be selected and reviewed, and what are the characteristics of OAJ and its differences from DOAJ.

By reviewing the objectives and progress of the CJEAP and the introduction of OAJ, this session will provide attendees with a deeper understanding of China’s ambitions in scholarly publishing and offer strategies for collaborative engagement between Chinese and Western stakeholders to drive innovation, promote equitable access, and enhance the global research ecosystem.