# Australia China Youth Association

The Australia-China Youth Association (ACYA) is an international non-governmental organisation that aims to strengthen ties between young people in Australia and China through bilateral initiatives in the areas of careers, education, and people-to-people links. ACYA is a volunteer-run nonprofit organisation that comlrises over 7000 members spread across 15 chapters in Australia, including all Group of Eight universities, and six China-based chapters in Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, Guangzhou, Wuhan, and Taipei.

## History

ACYA was founded in 2008 in Wudaokou, Beijing, by three Australian National University undergraduate students—Henry Makeham, Huw Pohlner and Dominic Delany—then on exchange at Peking University, Renmin University and Tsinghua University, respectively.
ACYA's major sponsor is the National Foundation for Australia-China Relations of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Australia). ACYA was one of only three youth organisations to be commended by name in the Australian Government's 2012 'Australia in the Asian Century' White Paper.

## Activities

ACYA's signature event is the annual Australia-China Emerging Leaders Summit (ACELS), which brings together ACYA leaders from across Australia and China for intensive workshops on leadership in the Australia-China space, and has been hailed by Xinhua as "fortifying the fortunes and feelings of the two key trading partners...while also ensuring the tidal ebbs and flows of politics and power plays in no way hinder the growing ties between Chinese and Australian youths." ACELS has grown to become the largest bilateral forum connecting youth from Australia and China and has received endorsement from high-level industry leaders and government officials.
In 2023 ACYA introduced a second annual tentpole initiative, the ACYA National Case Competition (ANCC) with funding provided by the National Foundation for Australia-China relations. This competition involves ″teams of 2-4 working to solve a business challenge based on very a topical issue impacting on the Australia-China bilateral space, and more broadly across global stage″.
ACYA chapters run hundreds of social, academic, and professional events each year and create communities for Australian and Chinese young people to discover each other's cultures, languages, and perspectives, and forge lasting friendships that bridge the cultural divide.
ACYA has previously administered significant educational scholarship programs that enable Australian students to learn the Chinese language at Renmin University of China and National Taiwan Normal University, and a 2-year MBA scholarship for an Australian student to study at the Renmin University School of Business.
ACYA also manages internship programs with Austrade, Peking University Australian Studies Centre, Tsinghua University, Asialink, Australia China Business Council, Australian Chamber of Commerce in Beijing, China Policy, and Thirst NGO.

## Role in Australia-China Relations

ACYA is prominent within the youth and education arenas of Australia-China relations, being acknowledged by the Australia-China Council as one of the key youth initiatives "that helps to connect younger generations of Australians and Chinese". ACYA has been recognised by Australian media such as The Australian Financial Review, The Australian, and Triple J as a major proponent of bilateral youth engagement and 'Asia literacy' in Australia.
ACYA is also the progenitor of other prominent Australia-China youth initiatives such as the Australia-China Youth Dialogue, Australia-China Young Professionals Initiative, and Engaging China Project.

## Organisational structure

ACYA is administered by a national executive, with the new executive elected each year by members of the outgoing executive and chapter presidents at the Annual General meeting. The elected members of the national executive consist of:
* National President
* Managing Director
* National Secretary
* Treasurer
* Australia Manager
* China Manager
* Alumni Manager
Following election the elected executives appoint directors to portfolios which cover core areas of ACYA activity and operations. The appointed members of the national executive consist of:
* Careers Director
* Education Director
* IT Director
* Media Director
* Partnerships Director
* People-to-People (P2P) Director
* Publications Director
* Translations Director
* Women's Network Director
A similar structure is replicated throughout local-level ACYA chapters, with each chapter led by a President who reports directly to the National Executive.