China beats Britain as top nation for moving to Australia
December 10 2009 by Liam Clifford
China surpasses the UK with the amount of new immigrants deciding to move to Australia.
In the
four months to October 2009, a record 6,350 migrants moved to Australia from
China, which, for the first time, exceeded the number that moved to Australia
from the UK and New Zealand.
Over the same period, 5,800 Brits decided to
live in Australia, while 4,740 people from New Zealand made the same move. The
increase in immigration from China follows moves by Australia and China to
improve diplomatic relations.
In the months leading up to October 2009,
relations between the nations were tense as a result of China’s failed A$19.5
billion investment in Australia’s Rio Tinto mining firm and the granting of
Australian visas to several of China’s ethnic Uighur
separatists.
However, Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd – who speaks
Mandarin – spoke to China’s Premier Wen Joabao at the Asia Summit in October,
and the two began working on their differences.
A recent poll of Chinese
public opinion found that most people now welcome Australia as part of Asia and
feel it has an important part to play in the continent.
Before China’s
improved relations with Australia, immigrants from the UK were the largest group
of newcomers moving to Australia.
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