China has urged its students to rethink going to university in Australia - warning them to be "cautious" if they choose to go.
On Tuesday, China's education ministry issued a statement ahead of Australia's universities reopening in July.
It said the threat of COVID-19 had not been "effectively controlled" and students should also be wary of the "multiple discriminatory incidents against Asians in Australia".
If Chinese students heeded the warning and stopped studying in Australia, it could lose up to $12 billion over the next two years, reports the BBC.
Students from China represented 28 percent of the international student enrolments in 2019, according to education market research group ICEF Monitor.
The warning comes amid the most recent escalation in tensions between China and Australia.
Conflict began when Australia called for an independent inquiry into the way the coronavirus pandemic was handled when it was first detected in Wuhan late last year.
Since that call, China imposed tariffs on some Australian exports and warned citizens off travelling to the country.
Last week, China issued a travel advisory warning of a "significant increase" in racist attacks against Asian people in Australia.
However Australia's tourism minister Simon Birmingham told the BBC the warnings have "no basis in fact", calling Australia "the most successful multicultural and migrant society in the world".
