Chinese students are big business, as the presence of the great and good of the Irish education system on the high-profile trade mission shows, writes John Downes

It is the largest trade mission of its kind ever undertaken by the Irish Government, with a wide range of key economic and cultural objectives, but as Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and his Minister for Education, Mary Hanafin, stepped off the plane in Beijing this week, they would also have been aware of its importance to the future of education here.

The reasons for the significance attached by the Government to cultivating the Chinese market - by marketing "Ireland Inc" as a destination for China's many students - are not hard to understand. By increasing the number of students from the vast Chinese population studying here the hope is that it will lead to more diversity on college campuses, increased collaboration and help to forge long-standing links with a hugely expanding economy.

Another more immediate reason is that any increase in the number of Chinese students paying fees (of anywhere between €8,000 and €15,000 a year, sometimes more) will provide much-needed new revenue for the underfunded third-level sector here.

Enterprise Ireland, for example, says it aims to double the revenue generated from foreign students in Ireland to €600 million by 2008.

In truth, the importance of the Chinese yuan is something which Irish colleges - mainly at third level but also within the private second-level sector - have gradually begun to acknowledge in recent years.When accompanied by a fall-off in the number of students applying through the CAO, this has led to a sea-change in the attitude of the sector regarding how to fill these places.

For example, Trinity College Dublin has about 60 Chinese students and aims to double that number over the next four years. University College Cork has similar plans and has gone from having 11 Chinese students three years ago to over 100 this year.

The institutes of technology and private educational colleges such as Griffith College and the Institute of Education also say they are looking to expand their Chinese intake. This has even led to students from China paying to come here to study for the Leaving Certificate.

The week-long education aspect of the mission is being attended by a veritable who's who of the Irish education sector. In a clear statement of intent, this includes Ahern himself, Hanafin, five of the seven heads the Irish universities - the others are sending their deputy heads - and senior representatives of the institutes of technologies and other private colleges.

So what do they hope to achieve? According to Prof Jane Grimson, vice-provost of TCD and a member of the delegation, one major aim of the trip will be to increase the cultural diversity of the students on Trinity's campus. This will be achieved in part through the development of bilateral agreements with colleges in China, she says.

In a highly-competitive marketplace, the ability to provide courses which international students want to enrol on is also a good sign that you are well regarded internationally.

Add to this the huge growth in the strength of Chinese research, and the fees students pay, and it seems clear that universities such as TCD and their counterparts in the IT and private sector have much to gain from increasing the number of high-calibre Chinese students they enrol.

"The thing about education is that the quality of the students who

come to a university is important. We find it adds to the cultural diversity of the campus. It makes education more interesting," says Prof Gerry Wrixon, president of UCC, who is also part of the delegation.

"The most important thing of all is the availability of good students. The more good students the better for everyone."

This is all very well. But even the quickest glance at the list of those making the trip to China underlines the real financial incentives it provides. The participation of many private, profit-orientated institutions indicates that they have realised there is real money to be made.

So, is increasing the number of Chinese students coming to study here really a win-win situation?

The colleges are understandably keen to stress the supports they put in place to help their students settle in. This can include finding them a host family, providing medical support and other student services. But it is equally true that many of those coming to Ireland have to work extremely long hours both to justify and

subsidise the cost of fees, which can total between €20,000 and €50,000 before living expenses are taken into account. This, in turn, has prompted fears about the quality of life the students enjoy while here - and the memories of Ireland they bring home with them.

Perhaps more worryingly, others caution that an over-emphasis on lucrative foreign students could eventually lead to Irish students losing out when it comes to gaining a place on certain courses.

While many of these students are currently filling surplus spaces, as these colleges become more reliant on the extra funding from fees, the concern is that they will start to prioritise such students over their Irish counterparts.

These are all legitimate concerns. But Frank O'Conor, manager of international education at Enterprise Ireland, puts it another way.

The international education industry is one of the fastest-growing in the world, he points out, with the British Council estimating that the number of international students worldwide will increase from about 1.5 million students to 7 million by 2010.

China will be the number one market for this growth - and the fact that Irish people speak English is another huge bonus, he says.

If Chinese students are going to spend large sums of money on education outside of their home country, it might as well be here, he says.

"These are our future contacts in China," he says. "It is a total win-win situation. They are filling empty spaces and bringing in revenue."