Mainland student enrolments in Australian universities are propping up the country's education export industry, latest figures reveal.
The number of mainland students on campus in Australia jumped almost 30 per cent to 11,000 in the first semester this year.
But many universities otherwise recorded falling or static enrolments of foreign students after years of spectacular increases.
In the past five years alone, foreign student numbers have almost doubled and now exceed 150,000 on-campus with a further 56,000 studying offshore.
More than 300,000 students from China are enrolled in universities, technical colleges, schools and English language colleges, contributing about A$6.5 billion ($38.8 billion) a year to the economy.
But experts warn that China is becoming a market competitor for students from other parts of Asia. The universities' recruiting agency, IDP Education, says the mainland, along with Singapore and Malaysia, is rapidly expanding its own higher education sector. 'China now has more international students than Australia has and it will continue to grow,' an IDP spokesman said.