Authors: David Norman, Jiani Wu, Jason Leung-Wai

Client: Education New Zealand

Date: May 2009

This project was commissioned by the Education New Zealand (ENZ) Trust. Its chief purpose is to aid the development of region-specific marketing strategies for the China market.

The China market is a crucial component of export education for many New Zealand institutions, but numbers of students from China have declined sharply in recent years. In order to reverse this trend, a coordinated approach toward marketing in China and within specific regions in China is needed.

After discussing the China market in some detail, the report considers New Zealand’s strengths and weaknesses as a study destination. The report then identifies six regions within China that can be marketed in different ways, highlighting strategies and opportunities within each region.

Finally, the report introduces strategies for attracting students from China currently being used in New Zealand and overseas, and makes several general recommendations on three fronts: increasing cooperation and coordination among New Zealand institutions; choosing carefully where we market and what we market; and building relationships with other potential partners in China and New Zealand.

The report will be followed up with a presentation at the Education New Zealand Conference in Wellington in August 2009.

BERL Ref#4713