(File Photo)

Canberra (People’s Daily) - China and Australia will continue to work together to improve the quality of education system in the two countries, as more than 20 years of joint research programs between universities of the two sides have yielded fruitful results and will boost further cooperation.

Australian universities today enjoy more formal agreements and links with their Chinese counterparts than they do with universities from any other nation, said Simon Birmingham, Australian Minister for Education and Training in a recent speech.

The flow of international students from China to Australia continues to grow. As of July 2017, there have been 202,000 Chinese students enrolled, 65 percent of whom are in higher education institutions in Australia, statistics indicated.

The Australian government also encourages Chinese students to gain more social experiences, as there are programs, such as the Australian Awards-Endeavour Scholarships and the Endeavour Mobility Grants, aiming to help international students realize their “dreams”.

Under a long-standing partnership, the Australian government and the Hong Kong-based Cheung Kong Group provide students and researchers from Australia and Asia with the opportunity to study overseas through the Endeavour Cheung Kong Research Fellowship and the Endeavour Cheung Kong student exchange program.

In 2018, there will be 284 Chinese and Australian exchange students in the programs. A total of 29 students have also been awarded the Endeavour Scholarship or Fellowship to study abroad, 25 of them are Chinese students.

China is the most popular destination in the New Colombo Plan for Australian students, said the minister. Since 2014, more than 4,700 Australian students have been exchanged through this plan to study in China. It represents Australians’ keen interest in the Chinese culture and society.