China now Australia's top source of immigrants

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China has overtaken the UK and New Zealand as Australia's biggest source of immigrants, official figures reveal.

The latest government figures show a record 6,350 people arrived from China in the four months to October.

China's new primacy was due largely to a fall in migration from the UK and New Zealand, as people there opt to hold on to jobs instead of moving to Australia.

Arrivals from the UK were down 28% to 5,800 and the number from New Zealand was down 47% to 4,740.

British migration has also been affected by a cut in the number of skilled workers Australia allows to settle in the country.

Chinese migration, however, is dominated by family reunions and grew by 15% over the same period last year.

New Zealanders do not require visas to migrate to Australia and so the drop in migration from there is a direct response to economic conditions, demographer Graeme Hugo told the Sydney Morning Herald.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8401376.stm