A Chinese military scientist spent a year studying satellite navigation systems at a Perth university while his links to the People's Liberation Army (PLA) were concealed, a bombshell report into the Chinese military's links to Australian universities has found.

Dr Guo Jianfeng, an associate professor at the PLA's Information Engineering University, was a research fellow at Curtin University's Global Navigation Satellite Systems research centre in 2013 and 2014.

But the university's website said the navigation systems expert was on sabbatical leave from the Zhengzhou Institute of Surveying and Mapping, which does not exist.

A new report by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute has identified a Chinese military scientist studying satellite navigation at Curtin University who was linked to a non-existent academic institute. Credit:Erin Jonasson

The report by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute's Alex Joske said the Zhengzhou Institute of Surveying and Mapping was used "as cover for PLA scientists interacting with foreigners".