Calls for Australia to stop relying so heavily on Chinese international students and start looking to its neighbours for students will be discussed at an ASEAN education meeting in Malaysia today.

Education is Australia's third largest export, and according to the federal Department of Education and Training, some 800,000 students came to study in 2017 alone, including at both school and higher education institutions.

Following on from last week's ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) summit in Sydney, the inaugural ASEAN-Australia Education Dialogue would be held in Penang, Malaysia today.

"One of the key topics is how Australia can switch from its focus on China towards ASEAN member countries," Director of the ASEAN Focus Group Michael Fay said

"For some of the Australian universities, 40 per cent of their international students come from China.

"So if anything happens to that Chinese market, such as with a downturn in the economy or problems with visas, Australia would be very exposed.

"Some of our education providers are very, very reliant on the Chinese market."

Huge demand result of China's rise

Professor Anthony Welch from the school of education at the University of Sydney said there had been a huge demand from China.

"I think China's dramatic rise over recent years has taken the world by storm. So it is understandable there has been a rise in Chinese students, but it has been at the neglect of other neighbours," Professor Welch said.

"There are good reasons for us to strengthen our relations with ASEAN nations anyway, including education.

"There are also broader geopolitical reasons for Australia to shift its focus slightly."

'Reliance is the wrong way of looking at it'

The chief executive of Universities Australia, Belinda Robinson, said reliance was the wrong word when it came to China as a source country for international students.

"I think reliance is the wrong way of looking at it. What Australian universities do is provide a really high quality education to international students who want to come to study," she said.

"It is no surprise that around 30 per cent on average of all international students are Chinese with a population of 1.4 billion people, but Australia does have 70 per cent from other countries, including around 20 per cent from ASEAN countries."

The dialogue is also set to look at improving mobility for students between Australia and ASEAN countries and building English as the official language of ASEAN.