The biggest show on earth

Australian business is taking advantage of next week’s international import expo in Shanghai to make its next big push.

After more than a year of strained relations between Australia and China, Australian business is taking advantage of next week’s international import expo in Shanghai to make its next big push into the China market.

With no visits to China this year by a prime minister or foreign minister, and no Australia Week in China in 2018, companies with an interest in selling to China will be out in force in what will be one of the biggest ever gatherings of businesspeople in the world.

In a massive exercise which only a country like China would even contemplate, the first China International Import Expo (now referred to in China by its acronym CIIE) will attract thousands of businesses from more than 130 countries and regions and a raft of world leaders including Pakistan’s new Prime Minister Imran Kahn and Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev.

Unlike the famous Canton trade fairs, where buyers from around the world have headed to for decades to buy goods from China, CIIE is a one-way street aimed at giving foreign companies a chance to sell their wares into China.

It was announced last year as an initiative of President Xi Jinping, following his keynote speech to World Economic Forum in Davos in January 2017. Xi is expected to announce new measures to open up the Chinese economy and make it more attractive to foreign business, in a major speech to be delivered at the opening ceremony on Monday morning.

Australia put its hand up early for a spot at the giant exhibition centre in Shanghai which will host the CIIE, getting itself a prime position near the entrance.

Estimates on just how many Australian companies will be attending are a bit fluid, but they are thought to be involved in selling more than 180 brands with more than 90 of those in the food and agriculture sector.

Sponsors of the Australian pavilion include ANZ, Blackmores, Coles, Woolworths, Telstra, Bellamy’s Organic, Thomas Foods and mining companies BHP, Rio, Fortescue and iron ore company Balla Balla.

Other companies with a strong presence at the expo include Australia Post, Qantas, Freedom Foods, Capilano Honey, almond company Select Harvests, and Swisse.

Business leaders expected to attend include Australia Post chief executive Christine Holgate, Blackmores’ executive director Marcus Blackmore and chief executive Richard Henfrey, Fortescue chief executive Elizabeth Gaines and Bellamy’s CEO Andrew Cohen and chairman John Ho.

Other companies will have senior regional executives in attendance.

The federal Trade Minister Simon Birmingham will lead the Australian delegation with most state governments sending representatives. Former Victorian premier John Brumby, whose roles now include president of the Australia China Business Council, will be flying the flag for Victoria given the state government is now in caretaker mode ahead of the election.

Exactly how much actual business gets done is not clear. This is the first time the expo has been held and no one quite knows how it will work.

But what everyone knows is that President Xi wants it to work — and work in a serious way to show his commitment to continue opening up China.

For its part, Australia Inc has grasped the opportunity of flying its trade flag in Shanghai, making it clear it wants to do business.

Next week can be expected to see a raft of “agreements” and memorandums of understanding and other expressions of goodwill signed between Australia companies and Chinese organisations.

The word is out from Beijing that next week is meant to be more than just meeting and greeting — it is meant to be about real business being done.

One rumour has it that if deals are not done, China’s local governments are expected to come to the party and buy a few things from the exhibitors at the fair to make sure it can be hailed at the end of the week as a huge success.

Whatever the forces at play on the Chinese side, it does mean that those Australian companies exhibiting next week have a real chance to put their wares in front of potential buyers.

Meetings between Chinese leaders and Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe last week saw a reported 50 deals signed.

Blackmores, which sees China as a major market for its products, will be one of the most active at the fair, bringing Marcus Blackmore, chief executive Henfrey, CFO Aaron Canning and head of government relations John O’Doherty, plus a group of 25 major shareholders and analysts following the company.

“CIIE is a meaningful event for both Blackmores and China,” the company’s managing director for Asia, Peter Osborne, told The Australian yesterday.

“CIIE is a very strong example of China’s focus, support and determination to pursue free and open trade and further expand its economy and the range of products available for Chinese consumers.”

Blackmores, says Osborne, is not just using the expo to fly the corporate flag, it is using it to get out the message on the quality and traceability of the ingredients in the company’s products — a key issue for consumers in China who are understandably wary of fakes and products with dubious ingredients.

“We very much see CIIE as a ‘win win’ for Blackmores, Australia and China,” he says.

After some difficult times in the Australia-China relationship, a large number of businesses and their shareholders will be hoping he’s right.