Is it time for universities to be realistic about where international students come from and what that means for the student experience? Recent geopolitical ...
“China is now the producer of the most research in the world. “It is a real dilemma as to how we deal with China and the balance between what we [universities] might think or what the government thinks. The pandemic also caused significant disruption to student mobility from China with many students being unable to travel – Australia estimates 50% of their Chinese student population is currently still residing offshore. “The reality is that when half of your international students come from two markets, you either choose to accept students from those markets or say that’s the university decision [not to]. To get an idea about the pipeline of future students, there are 46 million children currently in the Chinese kindergarten system.” We’ve always said [it’s best to] have a balanced portfolio, be aware of risks around the world and we don’t talk about a particular country in that sense,” he added.
The continent faces an arduous period ahead as global inflation driven by the Russia-Ukraine conflict weighs on the sombre food and energy outlook.
In addition, the country also depends on coal for local power generation despite obsolete equipment. The country was also the 43rd largest exporter of coal in 2021 after hauling coal worth US$9 million to export markets largely domiciled in sub-Saharan Africa. As a result, the continent has since suffered the brunt of Russia’s weaponisation of oil and gas in retaliation for economic sanctions. The southern African country has the 38th largest reserves of coal in the world with an estimated 550 million tonnes of coal reserves. Europe’s dependence on Russia compounded the continent’s challenges given that there remains no permanent and cleaner energy alternative to Russia’s energy. We outline three main events below that have battered the economy throughout 2022, and economic implications on global trade.