In Today’s Talking Points: Premier Li Stresses the Importance of Education and Basic Research; Chinese Student Recruitment Set to Rise in Australia as Visa Applications Rebound; Chinese Mainland Claims 6 of the World’s Top 100 Universities in Latest Rankings
Premier Li Stresses the Importance of Education and Basic Research
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has said this week that the state government will channel more efforts into improving education, employment and basic research in order to realize the full potential of China’s high-quality growth. While speaking to the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering, he expressed his gratitude to the two academies for their hard work and contributions to the country’s development and innovation. The domestic economy has maintained steady growth around 6.8% in the past few years, while the employment rate continues to rise. The Premier cited human resources as the best advantage that China has in its development and that top priority would be given by the government to maintaining employment and improving services in creating jobs. Recognising that a large workforce is a top motivator for China’s economic performance he committed to improving access to education and that a steady increase in inputs for education are required.
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Chinese Student Recruitment Set to Rise in Australia as Visa Applications Rebound
Australia’s education exports have continued to increase, despite warnings from education forecasters, with interest surging further from the crucial Chinese market. Applications to study in Australia have rebounded after a flattening of demand earlier in the year, however in the last month the number of student visa requests lodged have increased 20% since the same period last year. The number of visa requests for study purposes solely from China increased by 14%, and visa applications as a whole increased by 22% while Chinese interest in vocational education more than doubled. The new figures suggest that the appetite for Australian education has not plateaued as thought before, with education department figures backing this statement, as there were 7% more international students starting studies between January and March compared with the same period last year.
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Chinese Mainland Claims 6 of the World’s Top 100 Universities in Latest Rankings
Times Higher Education (THE) this Wednesday released its world reputation rankings for 2018, in which the Chinese mainland clinched had 6 universities in the top 100 universities in the world, while Hong Kong and Taiwan have 3 and 1 respectively in the top 100. Tsinghua University and Peking University are in 14th and 17th place respectively, holding steady their positions from last year. The other four universities to make the top 100 were; Zhejiang University, Fudan University, University of Science and Technology of China and Shanghai Jiao Tong University. The annual list, compiled from a globally representative survey of more than 10,000 senior academics highlights the top 100 most powerful university brands and can be seen as the standard setter for prestige higher education.
Read more on Xinhua