A University of Queensland course was established with funding from the university's Confucius Institute, a rare arrangement for the Chinese government-funded soft power centres which are not ordinarily involved in formal degree courses.

The course, titled "Understanding China", is billed as a comprehensive introduction to the Asian giant and has been offered to students from this year. According to the university's website, it was developed by UQ's economics school "in partnership with UQ’s Confucius Institute".

A University of Queensland course was developed "in partnership" with the university's Confucius Institute.

Spanning economics, the environment, foreign policy, criminal justice and the law, the course is "designed to help students explore and make sense of the complex and rapid changes occurring in China, which is a major global partner for UQ".

Confucius Institutes, which have been embraced by higher education institutions globally, are joint ventures between a host university, a partner university in China, and the Communist Party-controlled Confucius Institute headquarters in Beijing, which supplies funding, staff and resources.