Jia Qianqian was a literary high-flier. Then came the online claims of plagiarism

Jia Qianqian, daughter of internationally acclaimed writer Jia Pingwa, has become the latest high-profile figure in Chinese academia to fall from grace after a university investigation confirmed allegations of plagiarism.

In a statement on Wednesday, Northwest University said its months-long investigation found that nine of Jia’s published papers contained plagiarised material.

The university had terminated her teaching appointment and revoked her associate professor title.

In addition, her 2009 master’s degree had been revoked after Shaanxi Normal University carried out its own review of her thesis and found plagiarism, the statement said.

Northwest University’s decision came just two days after Renmin University of China said that it had stripped writer Jiang Fangzhou of her master’s degree for plagiarism in her 2019 thesis.

On July 8, President Xi Jinping called for greater efforts to crack down on academic misconduct at a meeting in Beijing. Improving China’s ability to innovate is a cornerstone of the government’s economic strategy.