ANZSOG’s China Advanced Leadership program brings China’s future leaders to Australia and New Zealand

Future leaders of China’s government have spent nearly three weeks visiting five cities across Australia and New Zealand – meeting senior leaders including NZ PM Jacinda Ardern and learning from our systems of government.

The Australia and New Zealand School of Government’s (ANZSOG) China Advanced Leadership Program (CALP) helps strengthen the bonds between Australia, New Zealand and China, and builds links with officials who often go on to hold senior positions in China’s government.

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As well as Ms Ardern, the group met with former NSW Premier Bob Carr, Senators Simon Birmingham and Penny Wong, Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews, former Victorian Premier John Brumby, former Prime Minister John Howard, the Hon Niall Blair MLC (NSW), the Hon Damien O’Connor (NZ), the Hon. Lianne Dalziel (Mayor of Christchurch), Councillor Philip Le Liu (City of Melbourne), and senior public servants from state and national governments of Australia and New Zealand. The group was also addressed by ANZSOG’s Dean and CEO, Professor Ken Smith, during their time in Melbourne.

CALP supports mutual learning between senior public officials about areas of public sector management that are of common interest to Australia, New Zealand and China. On this recent program, Australian and New Zealand public servants and policymakers introduced Chinese delegates to their approaches to issues including reducing road trauma, disaster recovery, anti-corruption measures, natural resource management, environmental protection, public sector reform and food safety. There were also several discussions across the program about efforts to improve inclusive practices in government and business, including gender equity.

Whilst here, the delegation visited important cultural, government and economic sites, including the Australian High Court in Canberra, Melbourne’s biomedical research precinct and the Parliament buildings in Wellington, Canberra, Sydney and Melbourne.

The Chinese cohort included 24 senior officials, from both central and provincial governments, at the Director-General, Deputy Director General and Mayor level from a range of departments including: the Central Bureau of Statistics, Municipal Committees, Central Environmental Protection and the Ministry of Agriculture.

The reciprocal program, now in its 7th year, has introduced more than 165 high-ranking Chinese public servants to Australian and New Zealand government and culture.

China Advanced Leadership Program 2017 Gallery:

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