Developing collaborative research teams to obtain external funding has been strongly encouraged by national policies in recent years. Therefore, Chinese academics have been eager to participate in such collaborative research teams. Using qualitative methods, we conducted in-depth interviews with 18 academics who worked at first-, second- and third-tier universities. Our study observed that first, the over stress on "guanxi" (social capital) in the research project approval mechanism predetermined an unequal power relation and put young academics in a disadvantaged situation as well as hindered the development of their sense of belonging in the research team. Second, the collaborative research team embedded with unequal power relations accelerated the tensions early career researchers (ECRs) faced. Third, given the weak external accountability system, research quality could not be guaranteed, but ECRs' fragility was strengthened.