Monash University has struck a $10 million research agreement with a Chinese state-owned aerospace company that was last week linked to a global industrial espionage campaign.

The deal with Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC) – to be formally signed in Beijing on Wednesday with Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews as a witness – has prompted fresh warnings about the risks of research collaboration with Chinese entities.

COMAC's flagship C919 plane, its rival to Boeing and Airbus. Credit:Bloomberg

The partnership will establish a research and development facility in Melbourne and could include work on advanced manufacturing, robotics, artificial intelligence, 3D printing and big data, sources told The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald .

COMAC, China's rival to the United States' Boeing and Europe's Airbus, has been tied to a major theft of intellectual property involving Beijing's Ministry of State Security and state-backed hackers.