China
International engagement at the Faculty of Arts
The Faculty of Arts PR China Strategy focuses on:
- Building strong partnerships with our partners
- Creating global experiences for our students
- Attracting, training and mentoring the next generation of scholars of China
- Producing and disseminating China-focused knowledge.
- Facilitating a global China initiative, building a regional study hub for Chinese studies.
Welcome from the Deputy Associate Dean International (PR China)
The approach in Arts leverages off the broader University of Melbourne Engaging with China 2020-2024 strategy.
China is and will remain one of the University of Melbourne’s most important partners. The University is seeking to build on existing engagement and expertise to position the University as a partner of choice for China and as a leading influencer of global conversations on China and China-related issues.
The University’s Engaging with China 2020-2024 strategy is centred on the goal of creating value through innovation and education and is based on the principle of mutual benefit, with the aim of creating value and delivering equal benefits to our Chinese collaborators and to the University. To achieve this ambition, the University has identified two streams of activity: building an inclusive community and confronting global challenges together.
The University of Melbourne will collaborate with Chinese partners to find lasting solutions to the following shared issues:
- People, place and Culture
- Environment and climate change
- Governance and institutions
- Health and wellbeing
- Urbanisation and infrastructure.
The University’s China engagement plan, in conjunction with strategies for Indonesia and India, demonstrates our long-term commitment to meaningful engagement with the broader Asia and Pacific region. The University looks to a future of unlimited potential.
Learn more about the University's China engagement plan
Deputy Associate Dean International (China)
Teaching
The University of Melbourne offers study in Chinese Language and Chinese Studies, enabling undergraduate students to complement language study with subjects on Chinese culture and society.
The University’s connections to China have been forged over several decades and are informed by the rich history of the Australian Chinese community in Australia. The first China-related subject ‘Far Eastern History’ was launched in the 1950s and, thanks to a donation from the Myer Foundation, the Department of Oriental Studies welcomed its first students in 1961.The study of Chinese language, culture, history, and society offers insights into China’s fascinating past and challenging present.
As the world’s second largest economy, the People’s Republic of China's future importance for Australia is hard to overestimate. China’s current level of investment in research and development in the tertiary sector indicates that China is poised to make a very rapid transition to a ‘knowledge economy’. This is a matter of direct relevance for the career planning of today’s undergraduates.

Chinese Studies
Teaching is informed by staff research in a wide variety of different fields, including language teaching and many aspects of contemporary and traditional China. One area of strong concentration is research on Regional Cultures and Linguistics, and the sociological study of contemporary China and overseas Chinese.
Research
The University of Melbourne is proud to host multiple centres and institutes that focus on China-related research and strengthen our understanding of China and the wider Asian region, and one of them is the Centre for Contemporary Chinese Studies (CCCS), which was established in the Asia Institute in the Faculty of Arts in 2013, with a focus on research and engagement.

Centre for Contemporary Chinese Studies
The CCCS 's mission is to facilitate high-quality research, teaching and engagement that furthers our understanding of China’s ongoing transformation and the impacts within and beyond China. CCCS enhances Australia’s bilateral partnerships with top Chinese universities and acts as a hub for contemporary China studies in Melbourne.
Engagement

Australia-China Forum marking 50th anniversary of Australia-China diplomatic relations
To mark the occasion of 50 years of Australia-China diplomatic relations, the Faculty of Arts Centre for Contemporary Chinese Studies, Chancellery International and Asialink partnered to host a highly successful “Building the Future Together” forum.
Engage with us online
China focussed researchers
Major partners
Our current PRC partners
Fudan University
Renmin University
Chinese Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA)
Shaanxi Provide Institute of Archaeology
Shanghai Jiao Tong University
Jinan University
Zhengzhou University
Harbin Institute of Technology (HIT)
More information
For more information about the Faculty of Arts international engagement strategy (China), please contact our Manager, International Strategy.
- Manager, International Strategy
- Jessica Yan
- jeyan@unimelb.edu.au