While Australia and China have vastly different populations with 1.3 billion in China and only 22.3 million in Australia, both have the majority of people living near the coast, and there is a continuing migration of people towards the coast. In Australia more than 83% of people live within 50 km of the coast, while in China, the estimate is that 60% of people live in the 12 coastal provinces. A recent comprehensive assessment shows that Australian marine industry contributes 25 billion Australian dollars annually to the national economy. Over the next ten years, China will develop the Blue (Marine) Economic Zones (BEZ) with the government and industry funding exceeding CNY1.4 trillion (A$200 billion).This leads to increasing pressures being put on the coastal zone and the requirement for research to better understand these complex zones and improve their management.

Unprecedented economic growth and increasing investment in science and research has contributed to China becoming one of the world’s leading science producers. Following Australian Government and community calls to increase cooperation in science and technology with China, University of New South Wales has signed Memorandum of Intent (MOI) for academic exchange and research collaboration with four top Chinese universities (so called ‘985 universities’) in 2008/9. Through these agreements, University of New South Wales Canberra at the Australian Defence Force Academy (UNSW Canberra) and these four Chinese Universities agree to seek ways of developing collaborations and programs for the purpose of facilitating academic, scientific and technological exchange and cooperation. Furthermore, each of these Chinese Universities agrees to send up to a total of fifteen China Scholarship Council (CSC) scholarship students per annum to UNSW Canberra @ADFA. CSC supports high quality students (top 10% in China) for a four-year PhD program. To date, more than 35 CSC HDRs have enrolled at UNSW Canberra, some of them completed.

Against above background, a Sino-Australian Research Centre for Coastal Management (SARCCM) was established in November 2010. SARCCM is a Research Centre of the University of New South Wales with a multidisciplinary/multi-faculty focus. It works closely with the Ocean University of China (OUC is one of UNSW MOI universities, and a key partner for the BEZ construction in China) in collaborative research on coastal science and management. The UNSW Canberra campus and several faculties of UNSW in Sydney contribute to the Research Centre. The SARCCM has strong team of 19 researchers from UNSW and its collaborative organizations, as well as 2 external funded posdoc fellows, 9 HDR students and one visiting fellow from OUC.

Since the launch, SARCCM has attracted strong interest from national and international scientific community as well as industries. An article was published in the American Geophysical Union Newsletter EOS describing SARCCM research collaboration with China. SARCCM scientists and students have also been active to carry out research activities in five programs including coastal oceanography, coastal engineering, remote sensing, marine policy and law, and climate change and socio-economics. Two special issues with a total of fifteen papers in highly ranked international journals have been published; and an external research grant has been obtained. Through SARCCM seminars, workshops and international visits, SARCCM has established a strong collaborative research network of scientists, government and industry people in China and Australia, with several research projects being developed for funding by national and international funding sources.

If you are interested in working with us at SARCCM, in collaborative research or as a postgraduate, please contact us to discuss how we might progress our common interests. We look forward to working with you. In particular, we welcome graduating undergraduate students to enroll in our newly developed Master of Philosophy (MPhil) program in Coastal Management. This is a full fee paying 1.5-2 year UNSW Master degree, aiming to provide a pathway for outstanding students to pursuit PhD studies at UNSW Canberra.

Hua.wang@adfa.edu.au