Australian businesses show optimism for Chinese market

“Australian companies are optimistic about the Chinese market and economic prospects, and look forward to deepening collaboration with Chinese companies,” said Australian business leaders.

The Networking Day Reception 2022 of the Australia China Business Council (ACBC) was held in Canberra recently. Despite global challenges such as high inflation and the Covid outbreaks, China’s economy showed remarkable resilience and potential.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics of China, Chinese economy has been recovering since August, with rising production needs and stable prices.

The August added value of industrial enterprises above designated size increased by 4.2% year on year, 0.4% higher than that of July. The retail sales of consumer goods rose by 5.4% year on year, 2.7% higher over the previous month.

Recognizing the difficulties of the global economy following the COVID-19 pandemic, Andrew Robb, former Australian federal minister for trade and investment, said he believed the "underlying economic conditions are strong enough" in China.

Andrew added that Australia and China were highly complementary in economy, laying the foundation for trade cooperation.

Since the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement came into effect in 2015, bilateral trade has grown monthly. Therefore, he expected to further economic cooperation and trade with China.

Warwick Smith, chair of the Global Engagement Committee of the Business Council of Australia, said in the long run, the close people-to-people exchanges allow the two countries to jointly address climate changes and develop new technologies.

China is Australia's largest trading partner. According to Chinese statistics, the bilateral trade volume in 2021 was about 231.2 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 35.1%.

The value of Australian exports to China was 164.82 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 40.6%.

Since 1973, the Australia China Business Council has been at the forefront of the growing economic engagement between China and Australia, facilitating bilateral trade, investment, and economic cooperation.

As one of the Australian Government advisers, the ACBC plays a significant role in Australia-China business relations.

Reporting by Lu Jing, Li Nanhua (People’s Daily Online); Translating by Guo Yao