China-Australia relations: lucrative international education sector takes hit amid trade row, survey shows

More than 80 per cent of companies in the China-Australia education sector say bilateral tensions hurt business over the past year, a new survey shows

Some 62 per cent of the respondents say attitudes towards Australian education in China ‘have deteriorated’ since a diplomatic spat started last April

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Attitudes towards Australian education in China are deteriorating, according to a new survey. Photo: Reuters

Published: 4:30am, 4 Mar 2021Updated: 5:51am, 4 Mar 2021

Three in five businesses in the China-Australia education sector say Chinese appetites for Australian education are deteriorating, with the tense bilateral relationship between the two countries the main reason, according to a new survey by the Australian Chamber of Commerce (Austcham) in Beijing.

In a survey of 112 education-related businesses – including Australian schools, universities and education support services – conducted in November and December last year, 62 per cent of the respondents said attitudes towards Australian education in China “have deteriorated” and more than half said that confidence in the Chinese market has decreased.

Conflict between the two countries was the prime reason for the worsening situation, with more than 80 per cent of businesses saying “changes in the Australia-China relationship have had an overall negative impact on business over the past year”.

Since the spat started in April last year, following Canberra’s call for an investigation into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic without consulting Beijing, the Chinese government has twice warned its students about serious threats to their safety in Australia due to discrimination and racist attacks.

On Wednesday, the Lowy Institute, an Australian think tank, revealed in a new study that after the Covid-19 outbreak about four in 10 Chinese-Australians said they were treated less favourably due to their heritage. About one in five had been physically threatened or attacked.