he Australian Studies Centre of Tsinghua University came into existence in 1998, and was more actively functioned by the Department of Foreign Languages in August, 2008. The Australian Studies Centre is an academic research and education institute for the study of Australian politics, history, economics, society, science and technology, culture and foreign relations. Its objective is to bring together specialists and scholars from Tsinghua University and other schools---especially Australian institutions of higher education and other academic bodies---to advance research on Australia at Tsinghua University and throughout China .

Tsinghua University is a comprehensive university, and the Australian Studies Centre will draw on this strength to develop cooperation and exchanges across disciplines in the study of Australian affairs. The Centre is mainly engaged in the following activities.

1. Coordinating and organizing Australian studies in the Department of Foreign Languages, Tsinghua University.

2. Developing international exchanges and strengthening academic exchanges and cooperation with Australian institutions of higher education and other groups.

3. Convening international and national conferences, seminars, cultural weeks and exhibitions on Australian studies.

4. Collecting materials on Australia , and running up the Australian Studies Centre’s home page.

5. Cooperating with scholars from other Australian Studies Centres in China and other research institutes.

The Centre has been consolidating links and contacts with other Australian studies research institutes and universities. It has already established links with the University of Melbourne. The Centre also has links with the Australian-China Council and FASIC. The activities of the Center have been strongly supported by Australian-China Council and the University of Melbourne. The development of the centre is particularly attributed to the generous support from Prof. Simon Evans, Prof. Kate Darian Smith and Prof. Antonia Finnane of the University of Melbourne.

The Director of the Centre is Prof. Chen Yongguo, and the Deputy-director of the center is Prof. Wang Jinghui.