Latest / Early Edition with Ryan Bridge / Alistair Crozier: NZ China Council Executive Director on the need to work to retain Chinese international students

Transcript

Alistair Crozier: NZ China Council Executive Director on the need to work to retain Chinese international students · Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: We're in a global scramble for Chinese students. Stakes are
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: quite high as well. China still makes up about thirty
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: five percent of our international students. That's a third of
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: the three and a half billion dollar industry. But fewer
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: young people in China, as you know, more countries competing
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: pipeline under pressure. Alistair Crozier is with the New Zealand
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: China Council Executive Director Alistair good morning.
• 0:22
  Speaker 2: Good morning Ryans.
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: So we've got lots of competition. Who are we talking
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: the Aussies, Canada, the US.
• 0:28
  Speaker 2: That used to be the competition. We always focused on
• 0:31
  Speaker 2: those traditional destinations. But what we're finding now is that
• 0:35
  Speaker 2: sort of Big four English speaking countries have expanded into
• 0:40
  Speaker 2: about fourteen. They include countries in Asia like Singapore, countries
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: and continental Europe like Germany and Farce. So yes, it
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: is a very market.
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: So what do we do to stay competitive?
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: Well, look, there's a number of things New Zealand's doing.
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: The first is we have to ensure that our these
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: are settings and these are processing times remain world class.
• 1:06
  Speaker 2: We have to be more flexible in what we're delivering.
• 1:09
  Speaker 2: Chinese families are now asking for more education delivery up
• 1:13
  Speaker 2: in China, and so we have to be on top
• 1:15
  Speaker 2: of that trend and respond to that, and we're doing
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: well there. And we also have to present a wider
• 1:24
  Speaker 2: value proposition. You know, it's not just what's in the classroom,
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: but what happens after the final exam. What can we
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: do to maintain those students in our country to grow
• 1:35
  Speaker 2: our productivity.
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: How much of it is about the reputation of our
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: education versus us as a destination or a place to
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: be living.
• 1:44
  Speaker 2: I think it's a mix of everything. I think if
• 1:46
  Speaker 2: you ask the sector, they will say in China we
• 1:50
  Speaker 2: are not regarded as a premium education delivery based on
• 1:55
  Speaker 2: global rankings, but that's a bit skewed because that's because
• 2:00
  Speaker 2: of our small scale and a lot of these rankings
• 2:02
  Speaker 2: are calculated by the number of PhDs or the number
• 2:06
  Speaker 2: of US and that where we perform really well is
• 2:11
  Speaker 2: in safety and you know, geopolitical stability. It's it's tough
• 2:16
  Speaker 2: for a Chinese student heading to the States these days.
• 2:20
  Speaker 2: Parents don't want to risk that. And we also compete
• 2:23
  Speaker 2: really really well on lifestyle, clean environment, great things to
• 2:29
  Speaker 2: do here. So it's the total value package.
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: Alistair, appreciate your time. This Morning. Thanks for being with me.
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: Alistair Crozier the New Zealand China Council Executive directory.
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: For more from earlier edition with Ryan Bridge. Listen live
• 2:41
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• 2:44
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