Australian Trade Minister: "If Chinese International Students Leave, Australia's Economy Will Suffer Serious Damage"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunwoo Lee] The Chinese government has issued measures urging Chinese students to refrain from studying and traveling in Australia as an economic retaliation against Australia, causing significant concern within the Australian government. If the number of Chinese students, who bring in at least 10 trillion KRW worth of foreign exchange to Australia, decreases, the impact is expected to be much greater than previous measures such as the ban on beef imports and the imposition of tariffs on barley.

According to foreign media including the BBC, on the 10th, Simon Birmingham, Australia's Minister for Trade, Investment and Tourism, refuted China's Ministry of Education's claim that the measures urging Chinese students to refrain from studying and traveling in Australia were due to racial discrimination against Chinese people in Australia, calling it "an unfounded story." He further explained, "If the number of Chinese students decreases, the Australian economy will suffer a significant blow, and universities will also be affected."

The amount of foreign exchange brought into Australia annually through the influx of international students reaches 38 billion Australian dollars (approximately 31 trillion KRW), with Chinese students accounting for about 37% of the approximately 440,000 international students in Australia. Simply put, Australia earns more than 10 trillion KRW through Chinese students. The University of Sydney estimates that if a large number of Chinese students withdraw, the losses to Australian universities will amount to at least 12 billion Australian dollars over the next two years.

Since Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison called for an international investigation into China regarding the origin of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in April, China has imposed retaliatory measures against Australia, including banning beef imports and imposing tariffs on Australian barley.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.