More scope for NZ universities to attract Chinese students
New Zealand's eight universities still have the capacity for more Chinese students, according to Lincoln University.
New Zealand's eight universities still have the capacity for more Chinese students, according to Lincoln University.
New Zealand's eight universities still have the capacity for more Chinese students, according to Lincoln University.
New Zealand attracted 5,804 students from China in the year ended July 31, government data shows, up 15% from the same period in 2015 and 41% higher than 2014. That's still less than the 10,000 mark Lincoln University director of greater China Jeff Sun says is the most with which New Zealand could cope.
Mr Sun says the number of Chinese students peaked in 2001 and 2002 at around 20,000 when New Zealand's relatively weak dollar and its early move in opening access to international students tapped into a growing appetite for Chinese to study abroad. The SARS virus combined with a stronger currency saw those numbers taper off, and they only started turning back around in 2010.
"Because we are a very small country with only eight universities, my view is the maximum we can only host is 10,000 Chinese students. Otherwise, we don't have space," says Mr Sun.
Tertiary Education Minister Steven Joyce has been targeting international students as a source of export earnings, allowing them to work part- and full-time since a 2013 bid to almost double the nation's income from the students to $5 billion by 2025.
That focus has bolstered migration flows to record levels in recent years, with rapid gains in the number of Indian students, some of whom secured visas through agents using fake documents and are now facing deportation.
Lincoln University has tried to lure Chinese students to New Zealand since 2000 and found its agricultural focus a sticking point in attracting Chinese, with parents taking a dim view of rural services.
The Christchurch-based university's ties with China include a research agreement with dairy processor Yili Industrial Group, memorandums of understanding with China's Henan Agricultural University and Zhongkai University of Agriculture and Engineering, and showcasing some of is technology to Chinese President Xi Jinping during his visit to New Zealand in 2014.
Lincoln markets itself as New Zealand's specialist land-based university highlighting agri-business training to counter those opinions, which Mr Sun says has slowly shifted as China repositions its economic priorities to include environmental concerns.
"We can see the trend. Chinese used to study commerce, business or IT, but now something has changed. Food science, viticulture, landscape architecture and the environment have become more popular. We are small, but we have the niche market," he says.
(BusinessDesk)
(Paul McBeth travelled to Shanghai courtesy of Huawei Technologies)
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