Research Based on Domestic and Foreign Reality: Applying the ‘Problem–Practice–Theory’ Academic Paradigm into China’s Country and Region Studies

Since the formal establishment of Country and Region Studies as an academic discipline in China, scholarly deliberations on its theoretical foundations and methodological repertoires have proliferated continuously. Yet the field’s current expansion is simultaneously constrained by disciplinary silos, a growing talent-training misalignment, and metric-driven evaluation. To overcome these constraints, this article proposes a ‘Problem–Practice–Theory’ paradigm for autonomous knowledge production, whereby research is problem-driven and conducted through practice to generate indigenous theory. This is complemented by the ‘Grounding at Both Ends’ principle requiring scholars to do research based on the interconnected dimension of domestic and foreign realities. An empirical case from Tanzania illustrates this recursive model. Researchers identified a cold-chain deficit in a Lake Victoria fishing village, brokered a tripartite agricultural-mechanization agreement, and reflexively abstracted this intervention into the ‘Pond Theory of China–Africa Local-Level Cooperation’. This case provides a replicable template for cultivating a distinctively Chinese knowledge system within Country and Region Studies.