Partners in the global economy
China is one of UQ’s most significant global partners—shaping deep connections across education, research and innovation. UQ’s engagement with China spans extensive student mobility, world-class research collaboration and growing commercialisation partnerships. These strong linkages have been built over decades through trusted relationships with leading Chinese institutions, particularly the Chinese Academy of Sciences, as well as collaboration with influential industry and funding bodies.
Fast facts
13,104
Chinese students enrolled at UQ
1,372
China-UQ co-publications
251
academic staff born in China
28
research project collaborations
38,314
alumni in China
138
agreements with 89 official partners
Fast facts show full year 2025 data.
Collaboration in action
- Ten collaborative research projects – ranging from bioengineering to the well being of refugees – have been successful in the first round of the 2017 UQ Global Strategy and Partnerships Seed Funding Scheme.
- A Chinese company listed in the Fortune Global 500 for the past eight years, and home to more than 120,000 employees, will partner The University of Queensland in sustainable metals research.
- The University of Queensland has partnered with education platform XuetangX to offer five massive open online courses (MOOCs) in Chinese, attracting an audience of more than 65,000 learners.
- Corporate law associate and University of Queensland (UQ) Fellow Karim Issa has spent the weekend in Hong Kong to promote political, economic, and cultural relations. The Bachelor of Laws (Hons) and Bachelor of Arts (extended major in Chinese) graduate was selected as UQ’s delegate to the Australia-China Youth Dialogue (ACYD), held on 28-31 October.
- The University of Queensland has been awarded almost $1 million in the latest round of Federal Government New Colombo Plan mobility program funding.
- Elliott Johnson was selected as a volunteer for the Agribusiness Stream during this month’s Australia Week in China (AWIC), led by the Minister for Trade and Investment Steven Ciobo and attended by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.
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Chinese culture at UQ
UQ has a long history of providing Mandarin language and Chinese culture programs, with the first Chinese classes held as early as 1967. Today, UQ students can study Mandarin Chinese through the School of Languages and Cultures, which offers more than 50 Chinese courses including Techniques in Teaching Chinese as a Second Language, and Chinese Translation and Interpreting.
The Institute of Modern Languages (IML) also offers Chinese courses (Mandarin and Cantonese) for the wider Brisbane community, as well as translation and interpreting services.
Alumni
China is home to a significant UQ alumni network - UQ has 30,161 alumni living in China. Alumni with significant links to China include: