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Victoria Signs China Education Deal, Clears $435 Million Battery Project

Canberra’s national cap on international students looms as the key constraint on Victoria’s education‑first push.

Overview

  • Premier Jacinta Allan and China’s Education Minister Huai Jinpeng signed a memorandum creating an annual joint working group to expand two‑way exchanges across primary, secondary and tertiary levels and to promote Mandarin teaching in Victorian schools.
  • Victoria approved Trina Solar’s $435 million Kiewa Valley battery energy storage system, which the government says could supply enough power for about 172,000 homes.
  • Allan cast international education as the strategy’s top priority and said she would welcome more students despite the federal limit of 295,000 places nationally next year.
  • The government reinstated $10,000 Hamer Scholarships for regional Victorians to study in China and witnessed new exchange agreements involving Latrobe University, Federation University and the Sunraysia Institute of TAFE.
  • The strategy projects Chinese visitor numbers reaching 800,000 by 2029 yet omits student‑number targets, and the premier flagged further transport announcements still to come.