Sydney, February 4 (Reporter Gu Shihong) Wang Chunsheng, acting consul general of the Chinese Consulate General in Sydney, said in an exclusive interview with reporters in Sydney on February 4 that China's provinces and cities and Australia's New South Wales (hereinafter referred to as New South Wales) have achieved gratifying results in three aspects of exchanges and cooperation in the field of education in recent years.
Wang Chunsheng said that exchanges at all levels have increased significantly, opening a new chapter in China-Australia education exchanges and cooperation. In August last year, China's Minister of Education Huai Jinpeng led a delegation to visit Australia, where he met with Australian Minister of Education Claire, held a roundtable discussion with the presidents of 15 Australian universities, and visited the University of Sydney, the University of Technology Sydney and other universities. In addition, Zhejiang University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, University of Science and Technology of China, Wuhan University, Huazhong University of Science and Technology and other domestic universities have visited Australia, and major universities in New South Wales, the University of New South Wales, the University of Technology Sydney, the University of Western Sydney and other major universities in New South Wales have visited China for many times.
He pointed out that the number of student exchanges between the two sides has rebounded and is expected to gradually return to pre-pandemic levels. According to statistics from the Australian Federal Department of Education, as of October 2023, there are about 8 Chinese (including Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan) students studying in NSW120,000, compared to the total for the whole of 2022**638%, which has recovered to 90 of the total for the whole of 201938%。NSW accounts for 27 of the total number of international students38%, China has been the largest number one international student in NSW for many years. At the same time, China is also very attractive to Australian students. According to statistics, Australia has become the eighth largest source of students studying in China.
Chinese education has become an important carrier of Sino-Australian cultural exchanges. Wang Chunsheng said that according to the statistics of the NSW Education Department, there are 124 Chinese community language schools in NSW, accounting for about 22% of the total number of community language schools. Major universities in NSW offer Chinese courses, and more and more Australian students choose to learn Chinese and hope to have the opportunity to study and exchange in China.
For example, he said that in the 2023 "Chinese Bridge" World Chinese Competition for College and Secondary School Students, two university students in NSW won the championship.
The second and third prizes, 1 middle school student entered the top 30 in the world. The Chinese proficiency of the award-winning students has improved significantly compared with previous years, which left a deep impression on the judges. (ENDS).