From the CE: Global New Zealand education promotions backed by positive international student experience

Kia ora koutou,  

I am delighted to share this update with you from Beijing, where I am attending the China Annual Conference and Expo for International Education (CACIE), which is among the largest and most influential international education conferences in the Asia-Pacific. 

New Zealand, as you know, has the proud distinction of being Country of Honour at CACIE 2025. What’s made New Zealand’s presence even more impactful is to have Hon Dr Shane Reti, the Minister for Universities and Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology join us on this visit. It is helping us raise New Zealand’s profile in education, research and innovation space during our short time in Beijing.

With over 25 tertiary education providers from around New Zealand in attendance at the conference, including universities, wānanga, polytechnics and private training establishments, we have a diverse delegation presenting a strong and unified New Zealand education brand in China.  

On Wednesday, ENZ hosted the New Zealand Education Friends and Partners Reception and attended the New Zealand-China Education B2B Networking session.  

While the reception was a wonderful opportunity that enabled our education providers to extend manaakitanga to their longtime Chinese partners, the B2B networking session was an important one to help them connect with new institutional partners in China.  

On Thursday, I am looking forward to attending the CACIE plenary session (attracting over 3,000 people) where Minister Reti will deliver the Country of Honour address, followed by the second New Zealand-China High-Level Education Forum that will see significant government-to-government engagement in education.  

I can’t wait to share some significant outcomes from this visit with you soon. 

CACIE is, of course, only the latest major opportunity in what has shaped up to be an incredibly impactful promotions season for New Zealand education across the world – from China, India, Europe and Thailand to Viet Nam, Japan and Korea. I am truly proud of the huge collaborative effort that has gone into the successful delivery of these events with the sector.  

It’s reassuring that these strong global promotions of New Zealand’s education quality are backed by the stellar results of the 2025 New Zealand International Student Experience Survey that see 87% of international students continue to rate their New Zealand experience positively. 

What’s better is that these highly positive satisfaction results come as international student enrolments in New Zealand continue to grow, with 63,610 international students enrolled in the country between January and April 2025, a 16% increase compared to the same period in 2024 (54,690). 

It’s a great track for us to stay on! 

Poipoia te kākano, kia pūawai  

Nurture the seed and it will bloom into a flower 

Ngā mihi nui,    

Amanda Malu    

Chief Executive