Australian business delegation heads to Xi Jinping’s ‘more complex’ China
The first industry-wide Australian business delegation to China since Covid is setting off this weekend to find out where they fit in Xi Jinping’s rising power.
The first industry-wide government-backed business delegation to China since Covid is setting off this weekend to find out where they fit in the “more complex environment” of Xi Jinping’s rising power.
Australia China Business Council President David Olsson, leader of the delegation, said the trip would give valuable insight into our biggest trading partner as it reopened after three years of Covid isolation.
“China has changed significantly over the last three years. We’ve not had access to China and to the market and to the people,” Mr Olsson told The Australian. “This is as much an exploratory delegation as one that will deliver true commercial outcomes. We want to find out where we fit into this more complex environment.”
Mr Olsson, a Hong Kong-based partner at law firm King & Wood Mallesons, last month made his first trip to China since 2019 when he attended the Boao Forum, a business conference on China’s Hainan island.
Most of the 15-strong Australian delegation – including executives from Rio Tinto, Fortescue Metals, Cochlear and HSBC, and the Acting Lord Mayor of Melbourne Nicholas Reece – have not been able to enter China since its pandemic border closure in March 2020.
After a three-year forced hiatus, delegations from around the world are pouring into China to meet local staff, their business partners and the officials that oversee the world’s second biggest economy.
The Australian trip is novel enough that it has made headlines in China. Some of the most popular comments on Chinese news stories about the visit reveal the still raw sentiment towards Australia after years of sour bilateral relations.
Antony Shaw, CEO of HSBC Australia, the corporate partner for the six-day visit to Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Tianjin and Beijing, said the reception from Chinese government officials had been much more positive.
Mr Shaw said the business delegation – which is being assisted by Austrade and the Department of Foreign Affairs – was keen to explore new markets beyond the “bedrock” of the commercial relationship, iron ore, LNG and, until it was black-listed by Beijing, coal. “Both countries have things the other desperately needs.”
China and Australia’s shared transitions to becoming greener economies will be a focus.
Relations with China have modestly improved under the Albanese government, but the risks of doing business in China remain elevated.
In late March, a Beijing-based Japanese business executive was arrested on espionage charges and remains in China’s opaque detention system. He had spent more than two decades in China and was involved in the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry in China.
Australian journalist Cheng Lei, whose partner Nick Coyle was the CEO of AustCham Beijing when she was arrested in August 2020, remains in a Chinese prison.
Australia’s Ambassador Graham Fletcher, who was denied entry to Ms Cheng’s closed one-day trial, will speak to the delegation in Beijing.
Mr Olsson said many were “naturally a little bit wary” about relocating to China, especially as many international schools struggle to hire staff who fled during China’s rolling Covid lockdowns. But he said there was “an extraordinary interest” in China among staff at his law firm. “We have a backlog of people on our rotation program who would love to spend time working in our offices in China.”
China’s positive first quarter GDP numbers this week showed the economy is on track to grow by 5 per cent this year, a strong pull factor for international business.
While the Chinese government continues to deny requests for all Australian journalists and most academics to enter China, Beijing has been much more encouraging for business people.
“The biggest issue we’re facing is the backlog,” said Mr Olsson.
That will get easier on May 1, when Beijing again allows business travellers to enter the country using APEC Business Travel Cards after a three-year pause – another sign of China’s reopening to the business world.
More Coverage
Jobs boom … courtesy of the taxpayer, Chalmers signals more spending
Nearly two-thirds of the jobs created under the Albanese government are being funded by the taxpayer, with Jim Chalmers paving the way for more money for aged care, childcare, higher education and health ahead of the election.
Top HSBC executive on Westpac’s CEO succession radar
This international banking executive is certain to feature on the target list of Westpac’s board and the headhunting firm spearheading a search for its next CEO.