Coronavirus: Australian universities could take ‘reputational hit’ from China travel bans

International universities with large numbers of Chinese students are bracing for potential pain following extensive travel bans to contain the coronavirus outbreak

Some 200,000 Chinese are studying in Australia, but more than half are unable to enter the country due to restrictions aimed at halting the spread of the coronavirus

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Some 200,000 Chinese have Australian student visas, but more than half are unable to enter the country due to coronavirus travel restrictions. Photo: Handout

Published: 11:30am, 16 Feb 2020Updated: 10:26pm, 16 Feb 2020

Postgraduate student Ashley Du has been trapped in the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou since the coronavirus outbreak escalated in late January, but she has not given up hope of starting the second semester of her master's degree in Australia.

Du, who is enrolled to study commerce at the University of Sydney, is one of about 200,000 Chinese with Australian student visas, more than half of whom Canberra says are stuck outside the country due to a ban on mainland travellers, including students.

“Right now, I am still planning on starting university at the end of February because I don’t want to suspend studies for a whole semester,” she said.

Du will be allowed to take online classes until March 13 – two weeks after the official February 24 semester start date – but says she is still prepared to pay rent for her two-room flat organised by student accommodation provider Belong, which has discounted prices for Chinese students.

Concerns about the global economic toll of the virus have grown following its spread from a seafood market in the central Chinese city of Wuhan late last year.

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