中国成为澳洲最大的移民来源国

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.

中国已经取代英国成为澳大利亚最大的移民来源国. 这一具有历史性意义的转变突显了中国和澳大利亚这两个亚太国之间的关系不断加强.

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.

周三澳洲政府公布的数据显示, 澳大利亚每年的吸纳移民总人数为168685人, 其中中国人占30000人, 较去年增长五分之一. 此次增长恰逢澳洲正在对抗熟练工人短缺困境, 特别是在快速增长的矿业和资源行业尤为严重. 澳洲正在这两个行业上进行空前的投资, 以满足中国对大宗商品和燃料的需求. 中国是澳洲最大的双边贸易伙伴.

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, 澳大利亚的失业率与去年持平, 约4.9%左右, 接近充分就业. 而且该国政府预测, 失业率会在2013年下降至4.5%. 来自中国的更大数量的移民, 弥补了英国不断减少的移民数量. 英国今年已经连续第五年对澳大利亚移民减少, 今年对澳移民人数略少于24000人. 印度如今是澳大利亚第三大移民来源国. 但是近来年印度对澳大利亚的移民数量也在不断减少, 今年比去年减少6%, 总移民人数为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.

澳大利亚在印度的形象被2009年的一系列的对留澳印度学生的残酷打击大大破坏, 同时澳大利亚政府对外国学生(包括印度学生)为获取工作签证而暂时就读的名声不好的职业教育学校予以取缔. 澳大利亚移民部长克里斯•鲍恩表示, 2010-2011的移民计划中通过的新移民人群大多数是熟练工人. “熟练移民工人为澳大利亚创造巨大的收益, 因为他们的就业促进了澳大利亚的经济增长,而且由于他们都相对年轻, 这有助于抵消工人力量老龄化的不良影响.” 鲍恩表示.

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.

鲍恩现在正在忙着处理一个关于澳洲政府计划遣送800名非法乘船进入澳大利亚水域的政治难民的法律诉讼. 澳洲政府希望通过将这800名难民运往马来西亚, 以换取身处该国的4000名澳洲籍难民. 熟练移民工之中, 最吃香的几个职位是会计师, 计算机专业人士, 厨师和注册护士.