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INVEST IN AUSTRALIA SEMINAR FUZHOU, WUHAN, NANJING, JINAN AND BEIJING April 2002 Mike Adams, Counsellor
(Economic) Australian Embassy Beijing |
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Ambassador Irvine regrets not
being able to be here in person but is engaged in the program of Australia’s
Minister for Family and Community Affairs, Amanda Vanstone. The issues you are dealing with
in this seminar are very important. We all know that Australia and
China are key trading partners and that bilateral trade is increasing very strongly. Less well known to the general
public is that Australia is one of China’s most important overseas investment
destinations and that Australia has substantial investments in China. I’d like to spend a few moments
putting your seminar in the broader context of the Australia-China relations
because I think this underlines its importance to both our countries. No one here should be surprised that
Australia considers our relationship with China to be one of our four most
important bilateral relationships, and why we put so much effort into
developing the relationship, including most senior levels of government. Geo-strategically, China is a
major player and, reasonably in our view, has aspirations for great power
status. The human dimension in another
key element of our relationship. We
have a strong national interest in understanding our neighbours better and
neighbours do not come bigger than China.
We therefore have a big stake in promoting people-to-people exchanges. Trade and investment links are
the third key element of the bilateral relationship. Recent trade growth has been
spectacular: v
Two-way trade in the year 2000 increased by 41 per
cent. v
Last year, in a difficult international trading
environment, two-way trade was up around 20 per cent. China is now our third largest
trading partner after Japan and the US, and in our judgement, two-way trade
is set to increase strongly over the next few years fuelled by: v
rapid growth in the Chinese economy, v
the natural trading partnership that was developed
between our two countries, and v
the commitment by both our governments to work
together, bilaterally, regionally and multilaterally to promote investment. Trade and investment are
obviously linked closely so let me say something about investment. Australia is one of China’s key
overseas investment destinations.
China also is a significant destination for Australian investment,
though the level is still relatively small. The Australian Government
believes Australian investment in China should rise significantly in the next
few years in response to opportunities created by China’s sustained economic
growth and its increasingly business-friendly environment. We believe Australian companies
across the spectrum of resources, manufacturing and services will start to
increase their investments in China as part of a strategy to expand overall
trade. With some policy development, it
is quite conceivable that Australia could make substantial investments in
China’s mining and energy sectors. It also seems likely that
Australian investment in the services sector will rise strongly in the next
few years in the wake of China’s accession to the WTO. Much of that investment will come from
small and medium sized Australian companies. Similarly, Chinese investment in
Australia is important and successful. There have been great successes
in resources, minerals and agriculture, and there is every reason to expect
that these successes will continue as: v
New strategic partnerships evolve over time, for
example in the energy sector; and v
As astute Chinese companies take advantage of
Australia’s relatively rapid growth, highly educated work force and openness. The Australian Government
strongly welcomes Chinese investment in Australia. Thank you. |
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