According to a report by The Sydney Morning Herald on the 8th, the latest data shows that China has for the first time surpassed traditional major immigrant source countries such as the United Kingdom and New Zealand to become the largest source of immigrants to Australia.
The latest data indicates that in the four months ending in October this year, 6,350 people from mainland China immigrated to Australia, while the figures for the United Kingdom and New Zealand were 5,800 and 4,740, respectively. Due to the global crisis, immigration from the United Kingdom and New Zealand has declined by 28% and 47% respectively compared to the same period last year.
Graeme Hugo, a demographer at the University of Adelaide in Australia, stated that the global financial crisis has hit traditional immigrant source countries hard, but its impact on China has been limited. In March of this year, the Australian government cut 18,500 skilled migration places.
