2017年CRI Education exchanges to tighten China-Australia ties

 

Educational exchanges between China and Australia have also been highlighted during Premier¹ Li Keqiang's visit.

As CRI's Huang Shan reports, people-to-people exchanges have been playing a special role in creating friendship between China and Australia.

In recent years, China has been the largest source of overseas students for Australia.

Amber² Gao, a Chinese graduate of the University of Sydney, is now living and working in Australia.

"Australia in the Southern hemisphere, I feel it's quite interesting to experience a totally different season from China. At first I did not fit into Australian society very well, due to the language barrier. But later I found that there are many Chinese people here, and the requirements for immigration are relatively³ loose, plus the climate here is particularly good, so I decided⁵ to stay here longer. In terms of the quality of teaching, I think professors in Sydney Uni are very responsible and fair, you rarely encounter any teachers who racially discriminate⁶."

Amber Gao [Photo provided by Amber Gao]

Official figures show, in 2016, the number of people-related exchanges between the two countries reached two million, and there were some 260,000 Chinese students studying in Australia.

Now working at a college placement agency based in Sydney, Amber Gao explains why Chinese students' prefer to apply to study in Australia.

"For those students who want to migrate here, usually they'll choose majors such as business, engineering or information technology. And students prefer to apply to Australia's Group of Eight, including Sydney University, Melbourne University and Queensland University. Since these universities enjoy a good reputation worldwide, students believe even if there's no chance to immigrate⁷, with a world leading university's diploma, they can gain extra points to help find a decent job in China."

The Australian government is now actively⁸ promoting the "New Colombo Plan", to encourage more Australian young people to study in China and other Asian countries, and therefore to enhance mutual⁹ understanding through such two-way interaction.

The Australian Studies Centre of Beijing Foreign Studies University. [Photo provided by Li Jianjun]

Kate Smith, an Australian student now studying at Tsinghua University, recalls what factors drove her to China.

"I think that the quality of education in some universities is definitely on a par⁴ with Australia. Obviously in China there are so many universities and there is a real big difference between the lower and the higher. For me the main thing that I wanted to get out of being in China was the Chinese environment, the Chinese language, the Chinese culture, the Chinese point of view. That's something that even if I was at the best university in the world I wouldn't get."

Li Jianjun, Secretary-General of the Australian Studies Association in China, believes bilateral¹⁰ cultural and educational exchanges have long lasting¹¹ and radiating effects.

"If we want to attract more Australian students to study in China, first we need to enrich the courses, as most of them come to China to learn the Chinese language and culture. In addition, we need to improve the supporting facilities, such as accommodation. We can see that cultural exchanges between China and Australia have never been interrupted, even during the times when the two countries had some political frictions¹²."

According to the 2016 QS World University Rankings, 41 Chinese universities made it into the top 500, with Tsinghua University, Peking University and Fudan University among the top 50.

1 premier   

adj.首要的；n.总理，首相

参考例句：

• The Irish Premier is paying an official visit to Britain.爱尔兰总理正在对英国进行正式访问。
• He requested that the premier grant him an internview.他要求那位总理接见他一次。

2 amber   

n.琥珀；琥珀色；adj.琥珀制的

参考例句：

• Would you like an amber necklace for your birthday?你过生日想要一条琥珀项链吗？
• This is a piece of little amber stones.这是一块小小的琥珀化石。

3 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

4 par   

n.标准，票面价值，平均数量；adj.票面的，平常的，标准的

参考例句：

• Sales of nylon have been below par in recent years.近年来尼龙织品的销售额一直不及以往。
• I don't think his ability is on a par with yours.我认为他的能力不能与你的能力相媲美。

5 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

6 discriminate   

v.区别，辨别，区分；有区别地对待

参考例句：

• You must learn to discriminate between facts and opinions.你必须学会把事实和看法区分出来。
• They can discriminate hundreds of colours.他们能分辨上百种颜色。

7 immigrate   

v.（从外国）移来，移居入境

参考例句：

• 10,000 people are expected to immigrate in the next two years.接下来的两年里预计有10，000人会移民至此。
• Only few plants can immigrate to the island.只有很少的植物能够移植到这座岛上。

8 actively   

adv.积极地，勤奋地

参考例句：

• During this period all the students were actively participating.在这节课中所有的学生都积极参加。
• We are actively intervening to settle a quarrel.我们正在积极调解争执。

9 mutual   

adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的

参考例句：

• We must pull together for mutual interest.我们必须为相互的利益而通力合作。
• Mutual interests tied us together.相互的利害关系把我们联系在一起。

10 bilateral   

adj.双方的，两边的，两侧的

参考例句：

• They have been negotiating a bilateral trade deal.他们一直在商谈一项双边贸易协定。
• There was a wide gap between the views of the two statesmen on the bilateral cooperation.对双方合作的问题，两位政治家各自所持的看法差距甚大。

11 lasting   

adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持

参考例句：

• The lasting war debased the value of the dollar.持久的战争使美元贬值。
• We hope for a lasting settlement of all these troubles.我们希望这些纠纷能获得永久的解决。

12 frictions   

n.摩擦( friction的名词复数 )；摩擦力；冲突；不和

参考例句：

• Family frictions can interfere with a child's schoolwork. 家庭中的争吵会影响孩子的学业。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• As far as we are concerned, these frictions are not of our own making [have been imposed on us]. 就我们来说，这种摩擦是被动式的。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》