Absent Chinese leave hole in student market

More than 56,000 international students have arrived in the past two months but fewer than 10 per cent have come from China, the most lucrative pre-pandemic market.

International Education Association of Australia chief executive Phil Honeywood says lockdowns last month made it difficult for some students to leave China. Picture: Aaron Francis

More than 56,000 international students have arrived in Australia in the past two months but figures reveal fewer than 10 per cent have come from China, the most lucrative market before the pandemic.

The greatest number of students to arrive since the Morrison government announced the easing of the international border in ­November have come from India, with more than 16,000 touching down in Australia. Fewer than 6000 Chinese students have ­arrived in that time, as tensions between Beijing and Canberra persist.

Despite a conciliatory message from China’s new ambassador to Australia, Xiao Qian, last month to “enhance trust” and “eliminate misunderstanding”, federal ministers have remained sceptical.

“We want a good, strong friendly relationship with China but at the moment China is in conflict,” Defence Minister Peter Dutton told Sydney radio 2GB last week. “Not just with us where they’re cutting off markets and the cyber attacks, but with The Philippines, they’re at loggerheads with the Indians, the Vietnamese, with many many other countries.”

The sector has been concerned over whether Chinese students would return in the same numbers since the Chinese Education ­Bureau warned students against going back to Australia because of “racist incidents”. But experts still predicted China would remain the biggest international student market for Australia and that it was a lack of flights stopping more students from making the trip.

International Education Association of Australia chief executive Phil Honeywood said lockdowns last month made it difficult for some students to leave China, with many more expected to arrive throughout this year. “The strong appetite for ­Chinese students to continue study, even online, combined with the word-of-mouth reputation for Australia as a great study destination bodes well for the future,” he said.

But figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics on Thursday showed the value of the international education sector had taken a significant hit thanks to the pandemic, dropping in value to its lowest level since 2014.

While the sector was worth more than $40bn before the pandemic, figures from the December quarter showed that was down to just $22.5bn.

However, Immigration Minister Alex Hawke said thousands of students were filtering into Australia, encouraged by refunds of visa charges announced by the government last week.

The returning students bring the total number in Australia to more than 160,000, according to Universities Australia. But there were another 131,290 students, or about 45 per cent of total visa holders, still overseas.

Group of Eight chief executive Vicki Thompson said Australia faced a “new reality” and the higher education sector was more competitive than ever. “Fostering international education and research is vital to Australia’s post Covid economic recovery, but Australia is not the only country seeking to rebuild our economy post the pandemic,” she said.

Research by Victoria University released in December showed that while Australia and New Zealand had dramatic drops in new international student arrivals, countries such as Britain had recorded a surge in students that surpassed pre-Covid levels.