Image: CHUTTERSNAP on Unsplash
Vulnerable education market must diversify away from China
Education is Australia’s only remaining export to China, valued over $10 billion annually, and it is both reliant on China and which Beijing can target without significant self-harm, according to a new Policy Options Paper by the National Security College.
In this paper, Dirk van der Kley and Benjamin Herscovitch outline how Australia can protect its education exports from potential economic coercion from China, sharing specific policy recommendations. Read the full paper here.
Commenting for the Financial Review, Dirk and Benjamin argue that given the potential vulnerabilities of the education market, Australia must adopt a more concerted and co-ordinated approach to diversifying countries from which students are sourced. They add however, “if there is a significant drop in students from China, the revenue and research loss would be impossible to fully replace through other international markets because China is the largest source of globally mobile students.”
Read the full article on the Financial Review here.
Related news and resources
Listen to Dirk and Benjamin’s discussion on how Australia can protect its education exports from potential economic coercion from China, in this episode of the National Security Podcast.
University foreign relations are being muddied by a damaging act – The Australian.
Chinese government could target education exports next in trade war – The Canberra Times.
