China: the next great competitor?

Some at RMIT may think that La Trobe, Deakin and Monash are the competition with regards to international recruitment. Others may consider the USA, the United Kingdom, Australia and Canada. A slightly broader view might expand to include the likes of France, Germany and New Zealand. Few in the industry have kept a particularly close eye on China as being a key recruiter of International students.

In 2013, China attracted more than 350,000 international higher education enrolments. That made it the third-largest destination for international students worldwide; behind the USA (with 820,000 students) and the United Kingdom (with 425,000). The latest estimation has Australia as the sixth most popular destination (265,000). China has enjoyed almost 50% of growth in international enrolments since 2009. Back then it was the 10th largest provider; in just four years it has leap-frogged Australia, France, Germany, Russia, Japan, Canada and Italy.

So if China is expanding so rapidly, from where are its international students coming, and what are they studying?

China's largest country market is, perhaps unsurprisingly, South Korea. The two countries are geographically close and share a long history together. In 2012 approximately 63,500 South Korean students enrolled in higher education programs in China - about 19% of that year's total. Other key markets for China include the USA (7%), Japan (6%), Thailand (5%) and Russia (5%).

Perhaps the most important question of all, however, is what are China's international students studying? According to data from 2011 more than 61% enrolled in Chinese language programs; that is international students are primarily flocking to China to learn Chinese. This makes sense, it's a rapidly expanding economic giant, and if you want to do business in China you are going to need to learn Chinese. Once this cohort is excised from China's total enrolments, it suddenly becomes a lot smaller. It's estimated 45,000 international business and commerce students in 2013 pail in comparison to the 113,000 enrolled here in Australia, for example.

China is still a rapidly growing competitor, the yearly rise up the university rankings for Chinese universities is testament to that, and will present a significant challenge to Australian providers in the coming decade, but it might not yet be quite the education powerhouse that the headlines have led us to believe.

(Source: http://www.cafsa.org.cn/)

Grant Watson is Business Intelligence Coordinator at RMIT International. He has previously worked for Murdoch University, the Film and Television Institute (WA) and the Western Australian Department of Education, where he worked in international aid & development projects. Grant is of Scottish descent and true to his heritage; his name is an anagram of Tartan Gowns.