SYDNEY - The University of New South Wales (UNSW) Wednesday has signed a major student mobility agreement with China's prestigious Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU).

The agreement elevates the relationship with SJTU, which is already UNSW's largest global mobility partner, to capture new opportunities for students interested in pursuing studies in China under the next phase of the Abbott Government's New Colombo Plan.

In what will be the single largest mobility partnership between UNSW and its global network of more than 200 exchange partners, the new agreement provides reciprocal exchange places for a combined total of 40 students every year from each institution over a period of five years.

"Given that your typical exchange agreement with a Chinese university generally gives you a quota of no more than two students, this is a game changer for the entire business model which has governed the way Chinese and Australian universities have historically thought about mobility," said Fiona Docherty, UNSW's Pro-Vice-Chancellor.

"SJTU has one of China's most formidable industry networks of research partners and an influential alumni community spanning multinationals and major Chinese corporates with the real potential to provide work experience and internship opportunities for our students," said former chief executive of the Australia China Business Council and UNSW's director of China strategy and development Laurie Pearcey.

The agreement is being signed during SJTU Council Chair Jiang Sixian's visit to UNSW which will also see the formalization of a partnership for SJTU to join the Easy Access IP network, where member universities offer most of their intellectual property to industry for free.