AN Australian think tank report said that despite the soured bilateral relationship, the Chinese market is still attractive to Australian businesses and the opportunities in China haven’t disappeared. The report, published yesterday by the Australia-China Relations Institute (ACRI) of University of Technologies Sydney, was based on a broad interview with Australian businesses leaders in a variety of industries. The report documents that Australian executives are still keen on doing business with China and fully intend to continue to do so. This chimes with data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showing that more Australian businesses are engaging with China than ever before and the annual value of total two-way trade continues to bounce off records highs, 267 billion Australian dollars (US$188 billion) at the latest count. Report author and Adjunct Industry Fellow of ACRI Glenda Korporaal said that there are several factors behind Australian businesses’ continued interest in the Chinese market. “China is a very big market, second-largest economy, one of the fastest-growing in our region. Despite the language and cultural differences, there is somehow an underlying strength in the people-to-people relationship. There’s also a fundamental complementarity between the Australian and the Chinese economy.” “So that fundamental is still there. Obviously, you have to overlay the politics over it. But those factors are still there,” she said. Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics listed out by the report show that the number of Australian exporters to China grew from 6,231 in 2014-15 to 8,184 in 2018-19 and the number continues to grow. Kristy Carr, CEO of Bubs Australia Ltd., lived in China and engaged with the Chinese market for years. She told the webinar held by ACRI yesterday that “Chinese businesses and Chinese people were just wonderful to do business with.” “They’re hard workers, they move at a pace like no one I’ve ever come across… If you’re looking to build a high growth business, there’s no other market like China to be able to, to build that kind of growth,” Carr said. Besides the basic economic complementarities, the report also found China is not only a market, but also a key supplier as well as a collaborator on innovation. Engaging with China also helps with diversifying to new markets. (Xinhua) | 