中國成爲澳洲最大的移民來源國

China has overtaken the UK to become Australia’s biggest source of migrants in an historic shift that underlines the strengthening ties between the two Asia Pacific nations.
中國已經取代英國成爲澳大利亞最大的移民來源國. 這一具有歷史性意義的轉變突顯了中國和澳大利亞這兩個亞太國之間的關係不斷加強.

Migrants from China jumped a fifth to nearly 30,000 out of Australia’s total annual intake of 168,685, according to government figures published on Wednesday. The rise comes at a time when Australia is grappling with skilled worker shortages, especially in its booming mining and energy industries that are investing record sums to meet China’s demands for commodities and fuel. China is Australia’s biggest two-way trading partner.
週三澳洲政府公佈的數據顯示, 澳大利亞每年的吸納移民總人數爲168685人, 其中中國人佔30000人, 較去年增長五分之一. 此次增長恰逢澳洲正在對抗熟練工人短缺困境, 特別是在快速增長的礦業和資源行業尤爲嚴重. 澳洲正在這兩個行業上進行空前的投資, 以滿足中國對大宗商品和燃料的需求. 中國是澳洲最大的雙邊貿易夥伴.

Australia’s jobless rate has flat-lined this year at about 4.9 per cent, considered close to full employment, and the government has forecast it will fall to 4.5 per cent in 2013. The greater migrant numbers from China helped offset the continued decline from the UK, where numbers fell for a fifth straight year to slightly less than 24,000. India, now Australia’s third biggest migrant source, has also declined in recent years and fell 6 per cent to 21,768.
今年, 澳大利亞的失業率與去年持平, 約4.9%左右, 接近充分就業. 而且該國政府預測, 失業率會在2013年下降至4.5%. 來自中國的更大數量的移民, 彌補了英國不斷減少的移民數量. 英國今年已經連續第五年對澳大利亞移民減少, 今年對澳移民人數略少於24000人. 印度如今是澳大利亞第三大移民來源國. 但是近來年印度對澳大利亞的移民數量也在不斷減少, 今年比去年減少6%, 總移民人數爲21768人.

Australia's image in India was tarnished by a string of brutal Indian student bashings in 2009, while Canberra has also cracked down on disreputable vocational education schools that were temporarily used by foreign students, including those from India, to attain working visas. Chris Bowen, the Australian immigration minister, said the bulk of the new arrivals in the 2010-11 migration programme were skilled workers. “Skilled migrants deliver significant benefits … as their employment contributes to economic growth and their relative youth offsets some of the impacts of the aging labour force,” he said.
澳大利亞在印度的形象被2009年的一系列的對留澳印度學生的殘酷打擊大大破壞, 同時澳大利亞政府對外國學生(包括印度學生)爲獲取工作簽證而暫時就讀的名聲不好的職業教育學校予以取締. 澳大利亞移民部長克里斯•鮑恩表示, 2010-2011的移民計劃中通過的新移民人羣大多數是熟練工人. “熟練移民工人爲澳大利亞創造巨大的收益, 因爲他們的就業促進了澳大利亞的經濟增長,而且由於他們都相對年輕, 這有助於抵消工人力量老齡化的不良影響.” 鮑恩表示.

Mr Bowen is locked in a legal battle over Canberra’s plan to deport 800 asylum seekers entering Australian waters illegally by boat to Malaysia in exchange for 4,000 of its refugees. The top occupations in the skilled migrants stream were accountants, computing professionals, cooks and registered nurses.
鮑恩現在正在忙着處理一個關於澳洲政府計劃遣送800名非法乘船進入澳大利亞水域的政治難民的法律訴訟. 澳洲政府希望通過將這800名難民運往馬來西亞, 以換取身處該國的4000名澳洲籍難民. 熟練移民工之中, 最吃香的幾個職位是會計師, 計算機專業人士, 廚師和註冊護士.