Australia-China education links strengthened by major HE mission

In a five-day visit running from 27 – 31 October, a delegation, led by Universities Australia chair Carolyn Evans and supported by CEO Luke Sheehy, will visit Shenzhen and Beijing in a bid to renew partnerships in education, research and innovation.

As universities look to build the skills, technologies and partnerships that will shape the future, the delegation includes vice-chancellors, deputy vice chancellors and senior university leaders from across Australia’s higher education system.

The goal of the visit is to strengthen cooperation in areas “critical to both nations, including clean energy, advanced manufacturing, health and technology,” a statement by Universities Australia noted.

“Education has long been one of the strongest and most stable bridges between Australia and China,” said Evans.

“After years of disruption caused by the pandemic and broader geopolitical issues, this visit marks the start of a new era – one focused on innovation, collaboration and solving shared challenges,” she explained.

“Australia’s and China’s universities have a proud record of working together to advance knowledge, strengthen industry capability and build the people-to-people links that underpin our relationship.”

Taking place during the visit, the inaugural Australia-China Leaders Dialogue will be held alongside the renewal of the Universities Australia-China Education Association for International Exchange Memorandum of Understanding, set to formalise the next phase of sector-to-sector cooperation.

Education has long been one of the strongest and most stable bridges between Australia and China

Carolyn Evans, Universities Australia

The visit will include engagements with the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ministry of Science and Technology, and companies including Mindray, BYD and Alibaba.

“China is one of Australia’s most important partners in education, research and innovation,” said Sheehy.

“Engagement of this kind is essential – it’s how we ensure Australia’s universities remain globally connected, informed and competitive. Responsible international collaboration strengthens our national capability, drives economic opportunity and helps us manage shared risks in an increasingly complex world.”

In an update from Evans, day one of the trip included a meeting at SUSTech to “discuss collaboration with this rapidly growing university and Australian counterparts”.

“Only 15 years old, the university already has deep industry partnerships with the major companies based in Shenzhen and an extraordinary campus. Other colleagues attended Mindray to explore their medical technologies work,” said Evans.

“In the afternoon, we toured the BYD facilities. BYD employ approximately a million people and more than 12% of them are research engineers working on the next product or the next uplift of current products. There is a lesson here for Australian businesses which tend to underinvest in research.”

Universities Australia also co-hosted an alumni event in the region with consul general Timothy Kendall, where graduates shared how their Australian university experience helped accelerate their careers.

Evans will deliver a keynote address at the China Annual Conference & Expo for International Education in Beijing on October 30, where global education leaders will meet to discuss the future of international collaboration and innovation.

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