$20 billion international education export industry to be explored in China during AccessChina'16

Opportunities for Australia’s third largest export industry international education in China will be a key focus of the AccessChina’16 Business Delegation to be hosted by Toowoomba and Surat Basin Enterprise later this year.

The one-of-a-kind business delegation, which will depart from Brisbane West Wellcamp Airport bound for Shanghai, China on 23 October, will see 200 businesses head to China to investigate and activate opportunities for their business in this powerhouse market.

Education is one of six key streams that will explored during the five-day program, with recent figures proving Chinese students are more important than ever to the booming education export industry.

In 2016, almost 50,000 Chinese students started courses in Australian universities, colleges and schools, up 23 per cent on 2015 figures compared to a 13 per cent increase in the number of international students from all countries.

“Education is certainly a growing export opportunity for Australia with Australia remaining one of the top options for Chinese students looking to learn abroad,” TSBE Executive Chairman, Shane Charles explained.

“International education is Australia’s third largest export industry, now worth nearly $20 billion, so it is important that there is a growing focus on attracting Chinese students.

With students from more than 80 countries, AccessChina’16 Event Partner, University of Southern Queensland (USQ) knows the value of international education.

USQ Vice Chancellor and President Professor Jan Thomas said the university will be represented at AccessChina’16 Business through its international marketing office.

“USQ has already developed strong relations with several top Chinese universities and the delegation will help increase awareness in the Chinese Market of USQ’s outstanding international student programs and industry and research collaborations.”

“Thanks to the number of schools and tertiary education providers such as USQ and TAFE South West, all offering world-class education, Toowoomba has long been known as an education capital.

“We as a region are very well placed to service the growing demand from the Chinese in the education market and we look forward to investigating our growing potential in this area on AccessChina’16” Mr Charles said.

Day One of AccessChina’16 will see delegates hear from a number of international education industry leaders working within the Asian markets.

Some of the keynotes will include Karen Moffat from Dulwich College, a British international school located in Pudong in Shanghai and Professor’s Liu Quinglong and Chen Qi from Tsinghua University in Beijing, one of the nine members in China’s elite C9 League of universities.

Delegates will also get to visit a number of sites to see first-hand the magnitude and importance of education in China, including visits to Dulwich College and NYU Shanghai.

NYU Shanghai was jointly established by New York University and East China Normal University of Shanghai and is the first American college to receive independent registration status from China’s Ministry of Education.

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