South Australia and China: A long and strong relationship

Below is an abridged version of a speech I gave at an event co-hosted by the Australian China Business Council and China Chamber of Commerce Australia on September 17, 2019 to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the founding of P.R.China.

In 1846, just 10 years after Adelaide was established, the first ship of Chinese migrant workers docked in Port Adelaide to seek opportunity in South Australia. We know the following decades saw a number more Chinese settlers come to our shores – especially during the Victorian gold rush.

Over one hundred years ago, Adelaide already had a Chinatown, a Chinese school teaching migrants English, a temple with freedom to worship, a well-established Chinese New Year banquet held at Town Hall and a community of well-known Chinese business figures.

Fast forward to 2019 and China is our state’s largest two-way trade partner, with South Australian exports to China valued at $2.7 billion in the 12 months to June 2019, up eight per cent on the previous year.

We also now have the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement (ChaFTA) which enhanced our trade and investment relationship and ensures the competitiveness of our agricultural and manufacturing industries and protects the competitiveness of our service providers.

China is an important destination for outbound South Australian investment and is our eighth highest source of foreign direct investment by capital investment – recording investment of nearly $947 million in our state since 2003 [1].

China and South Australia also share significant business-to-business links. My department has been able to count over 60 Chinese companies headquartered in South Australia, and there are countless South Australian companies known to be active in China.

180 years after those first migrant arrivals in Port Adelaide, Chinese migrants are still making significant contributions to our economy and I note that the past five years have seen 71 per cent of South Australia’s total business migrants come from China. [2] From these statistics alone, you can understand why we value the relationship we have with China – but it goes beyond just simply, trade and investment.

In 1887, Premier Thomas Playford II welcomed the first senior delegation of Chinese Commissioners to South Australia for a ten day itinerary visiting South Australian institutions.

Notably, one of the delegation heads in General Wang gave a speech in English where he called on South Australians to teach British knowledge and the arts to the Chinese so it could be brought back for the good of China.

Now in 2019, China is South Australia’s largest source of international students with 11,788 enrolments from Chinese students so far in this year alone. [3] We also welcome more international tourists from China than any other country with 66,000 Chinese visitors arriving over the past year.[4]

Interestingly, I recall my colleague and federal Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment Hon. Simon Birmingham noting that even as there are record amounts of Chinese tourists visiting Australia, there are still more Australians that visit China and now that even extends to going to Shanghai for the footy with the Port Adelaide Football Club undefeated for the past 3 years.

These people-to-people ties strengthen our state and presents opportunities for further social and cultural exchanges. Our relationship is underpinned by a great friendship, mutual understanding and respect for each other’s cultural values.

Shandong

Earlier this month I welcomed exhibitors from our sister-state, Shandong Province, to Adelaide to participate in the Royal Adelaide Show. For the fourth year, Shandong hosted an exhibit to showcase products and services from the region.

We have enjoyed a friendship with Shandong for more than three decades and it’s still going strong. Established in 1986, our relationship has evolved from being focused on education and culture, to significantly increasing commercial outcomes. We share strong ties in food, wine, health, education, culture, sport and tourism.

And of course, we have many joint collaborations with the region across research, academia and business, including with the Shandong Academy of Sciences and our universities that incorporated joint laboratories to enable investments across a range of industries, including marine biotechnology.

The South Australian Government has a representative office in Jinan, the capital of Shandong, which has been in operation since September 1995 and employs local staff to support our ongoing relationship with the Province.

I am delighted to see the Shandong Government reciprocate our dedication by setting up their trade office which provides support to Australian and New Zealand companies looking to enter the Chinese market.

This office is just the ninth international office to be established by the Commerce Department of the Shandong Municipal People’s Government, recognising the sister-state commitment of both our governments.

In operation since September 2018, the office is facilitating trade and investment enquiries between our regions. We look forward to working closely with the team to identify further opportunities for South Australian and Chinese businesses in trade, investment, tourism and international education in the years to come.

Shanghai Office

Of course, our government has recently opened a trade and investment office in Shanghai and appointed a Country Director China in Ms Xiaoya Wei.

The office was opened in November 2018 and facilitates business and investment opportunities between China and South Australia, along with support from our team members in Jinan, Guangzhou and Hong Kong.

Xiaoya and her team have been hard at work introducing new buyer/export opportunities and supporting new South Australian exporters to enter the Chinese market.

The China team also work in-market to attract high net worth migrants to South Australia and support South Australian companies at trade events including the Food Hotel China Trade Show, Pro-Wine Shanghai, China Food and Drink Fair Chengdu, SIAL China and Langfang International Trade Fair.

China Consulate

With direct flights between Adelaide and China, a branch of the Bank of China based in our city and of course, the Chinese Consulate-General office in our city, we have many opportunities for trade and friendship between our regions.

We have a very productive relationship with the Consulate and are working together to increase business between our regions and make it easier for Chinese students that come to study with us.

The Consulate provided excellent assistance and facilitation to South Australian companies participating at last year’s China International Import Expo, and again to those who will be exhibiting in November later this year.

Conclusion

China and South Australia share a rich and storied history and yet the more things change, the more things stay the same.

General Wang’s 1887 statement saying he had no doubt that China was “a ready market” for South Australian produce sounds remarkably familiar and since early on, there has been a deep connection between our two peoples, businesses and governments that was celebrated then and we celebrate today.

Congratulations on the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China. China continues to be an important international partner for South Australia and it is also a great friend.

I look forward to working with everyone here today to further opportunities for collaboration, research, partnership and business between our two great regions.

Thank you.

[1] FDI Markets. [2] PBN: Budget & Finance Committee, September 2019. [3] To June 2019. [4] SATC: 12 months ending March 2019.