Room for growth fuels enhanced ties

With China entering a new era of green and innovation-led growth, Australian business leaders remain committed to China as they plan to expand their local footprint and are impressed by the nation's latest commitments to high-standard opening-up and high-quality development.

As 2022 marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of China-Australia diplomatic relations, China's rapid economic expansion and growth in affluent consumers has demonstrated that the country is still an attractive investment destination and strategic market for global and Australian businesses, said Natalie Lowe, CEO and founding partner of The Orangeblowfish, a creative agency with teams across China, Australia, North America and the United Kingdom.

As an Australian who has been living in China for more than 15 years, Lowe said that the largest growth in China will be the optimization of branded spaces, especially in retail, workspaces and hospitality.

"With China further optimizing its COVID-19 control policies and creating favorable conditions to stimulate domestic demand, we see huge growth potential in helping brands re-imagine offline brand experiences for their consumers," she said.

Chinese and Australian business leaders also believe that the low-carbon field is now the new frontier for two-way cooperation and innovation. Therefore deepening collaboration between the two countries in related fields will prove to be win-win and benefit the world.

David Olsson, chairman and national president of the Australia China Business Council, said the imperative to work together to address climate change issues is key to not only addressing the challenges of the field but catalyzing a new form of collaboration between China and the Oceanian country.

"As we put climate collaboration at the center of our efforts, Australia and China already have a strong track record of innovative collaboration across multiple sectors and industries. This is a solid basis from which we can work together going forward," said Olsson.

Australia has the expertise and resources to support decarbonization activities in the Chinese economy, and China in turn offers ideas, technology and capital that can support industrial transformation through the creation of new jobs and industries in Australia, he said.

Ren Hongbin, chairman of Beijing-headquartered China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, said economic and trade cooperation drives China-Australia relations.

The two countries are expected to deepen their close collaboration in energy, resources and commodities trade to jointly address climate change.

Ren said that he expects China and Australia to strengthen policy coordination, intensify pragmatic cooperation and adhere to innovation-driven strategy in this regard.

The CCPIT is willing to work with its counterparts in various countries, to enhance communication and experience-sharing on low-carbon product standards and low-carbon industry policies, and promote mutual understanding of technical regulations and conformity assessment procedures, thereby reducing technical and standard-related market barriers, he said.

Tian Yongzhong, vice-president of State-owned Aluminum Corporation of China, said China and Australia have a strong foundation for industrial cooperation as Australia is rich in nonferrous metal resources and has a complete industrial chain. Meanwhile, China ranks first globally in terms of nonferrous metal industry scale, with internationally leading technologies and equipment.

"China and Australia have similarities in industries and share decarbonization objectives. Win-win cooperation certainly is the trend," Tian said.

Jakob Stausholm, CEO of Rio Tinto Group, Australia's metals and mining major, said he is particularly excited about the opportunities arising from China and Australia's shared interest in solving the global challenge of climate change and managing the transition to a low-carbon economy.