Constructive contacts have been established between the FHNW China Centre and the provincial Department of Science and Technology in the Heilongjiang Province. Establishing an SC-Hub (Student Collaboration Hub) within this environment would be desirable for which a concept needs to be created. The language barrier and differences in chosen IT solutions generate challenges for Sino-Swiss collaboration. Therefore, tools and methods with which these challenges can be met must be identified and evaluated to finally provide them to improve Sino-Swiss collaboration in the context of the SC-Hub.

The macro-environment of the SC-Hub was analysed through a PEST analysis. A first concept for the SC-Hub was then created and presented to relevant stakeholders to get feedback on how it could be further improved. Then, the concept was further elaborated, and the 4P marketing model and SWOT analysis were applied. Furthermore, interviews and literature research were conducted to identify challenges in Sino-Swiss collaboration, for which tools and methods were subsequently analysed that can help. The tools and methods were then evaluated, and a resulting selection was provided to the client.

To support the implementation of the potential SC-Hub, a first concept was provided to the client. Furthermore, tools and methods were provided to help to bridge the language barrier based on evaluations with weighted criteria matrices, a survey and a field study. These include tools and approaches for translating digitally copyable Chinese characters and non-copyable Chinese characters, such as those in videos or illustrations, using OCR technology, and spoken Chinese using real-time translation of spoken language. Also, insights into the Chinese IT system landscape were provided, and relevant tools that enable a link to the local system were presented. Furthermore, two automations have been created in UiPath StudioX which allow the synchronisation of Microsoft Teams messages to WeChat, including translations. Finally, the leading tools and methods were compactly summarised on a Quick Reference Card to make them quickly and comprehensibly available to future participants and other stakeholders of the SC-Hub. In addition, a method was developed with which the tools can be easily made available in Microsoft Teams in the future.