Australia to welcome back thousands of Chinese students as ties thaw

Roughly 150,000 Chinese nationals are enrolled in Australian universities, but tens of thousands have remained offshore, studying via online learning

Australia is now preparing for their return after China’s education ministry warned on Saturday that online learning would no longer be recognised

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Students from China pose for family photos after graduating from a course in commerce at Sydney University in 2017. Photo: AFP

Published: 2:32pm, 30 Jan 2023

Australia is preparing for the arrival of thousands of Chinese students, the education minister said on Monday, days after China’s education ministry warned students enrolled overseas that online learning would no longer be recognised.

Australia’s education sector, which generated A$39 billion (US$27.7 billion) in export earnings before the pandemic, has strong ties to China, with roughly 150,000 nationals enrolled in Australian universities. Tens of thousands remain offshore after pandemic restrictions and strained diplomatic relations led many to return home.

But with three weeks to go before Australian universities start, the Chinese Ministry of Education’s Chinese Service Centre for Scholarly Exchange said on Saturday it would no longer recognise overseas degrees obtained via online learning and urged students to return to overseas campuses as soon as possible.

International students from China arrive at an airport in Sydney to a catch a flight home in 2020 amid the coronavirus pandemic. Tens of thousands of Chinese students remain offshore after pandemic restrictions and strained diplomatic relations led many to return home. Photo: Reuters

“At present, the borders of major destinations for international study have reopened, and foreign [overseas] colleges and universities have fully resumed offline teaching,” it said in a statement.

China dropped nearly all of its Covid curbs in December, leading to a surge in cases and deaths as Beijing shifted focus to salvage a faltering economy.

The normalising of educational ties comes weeks after Chinese officials relaxed import bans on Australian coal as both countries work to improve diplomatic relations after more than two years of Chinese trade sanctions that have frozen trade in barley, coal and wine and other goods and services.

Australian Education Minister Jason Clare on Monday welcomed the move and said he would work with his counterpart in the home (interior) ministry to help universities resolve any short-term logistical issues.

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