China is advancing in AI, robotics, and biotechnology. Australia risks falling behind by restricting research collaboration with Chinese universities.
While the government works hard to make Australia less appealing to international students, China continues to provide the largest cohort of both continuing and new international students in Australia.
But it’s possible now to see a future in which tens of thousands of Australian students should — if we had any sense — be travelling to China to study.
Mainland China now has five universities in the top 50 of global rankings, with Tsinghua and Peking universities ranked in the global elite across multiple university ratings systems, ahead of prominent Australian institutions like the University of Melbourne or University of Sydney.