David Olsson from the China Australia Business Council urged his government to use the two countries’ economic links to improve political relations. Olsson, who hosted a meeting between China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Australian business leaders said the economic relationship provides the ballast for broader bilateral relations.
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00:00 So the mere fact that we've had that level of engagement taking place in the context
00:05 of bilateral government relations is significant in itself.
00:09 So I think for me that the outcome of the meeting was first of all the fact that we
00:13 had it, the first in seven years.
00:16 There were affirmations by both sides that we need to continue this sort of dialogue.
00:21 It's very, very important.
00:22 David, as you said, it's very important to continue with the dialogues.
00:27 And from your perspective, your organisation represents over 500 Australian companies.
00:32 So what role do you see Australian businesses playing in shaping the future relations between
00:39 China and Australia?
00:41 We often lose sight of the fact that the economic relationship provides the ballast to that
00:47 broader bilateral relationship.
00:50 And in Australia's case, that is particularly the case.
00:53 We have an exceptionally strong economic relationship with China, a two-way relationship that benefits
00:58 both nations.
00:59 And so this opportunity for the business leaders of Australia to meet with a senior government
01:04 official from China is a very opportune time for us just to reassess and refresh that reaffirmation
01:13 of the importance of that economic relationship, which as I said, provides the ballast to the
01:17 broader bilateral relationship.
01:19 So do you mean that business ties can be affected by political relations between the two countries?
01:25 And we know that China and Australia had a period of strained relations.
01:28 How much did the business community suffer from that?
01:31 Well, we've had a period of about four or five years where the relations have been strained.
01:36 There have been a number of trade barriers implemented by China, particularly in relation
01:41 to new tariffs that have been implemented on a number of our goods, very exceptionally
01:46 high tariffs.
01:48 The voice of business has been very important in bringing the governments together.
01:53 We've provided the information that's necessary to enable governments to truly understand
01:57 the benefits that flow to each country from that mutual trade.
02:01 And together with our government, the Australian government, we've worked hard to lobby for
02:07 a reaffirmation of that economic relationship and the importance of it.
02:11 And now we see that the two parties are seeking to rebuild their ties.
02:16 And are Australian businesses confident in the Chinese market?
02:21 I think Australian businesses have traditionally been very confident in the Chinese market.
02:27 Clearly, in the last few years, and particularly the last few years during the pandemic, we've
02:34 all been concerned about what's happening within the Chinese domestic economy.
02:39 The pandemic has meant that many of the supply chains that we rely upon, that are so important
02:46 to our economic relationship, have been disrupted.
02:49 We continue to seek information, to try to assess that to the best of our knowledge,
02:56 and then put that into a whole global context, because we know that China is not only an
03:01 important trading partner to Australia, but one of the most important trading partners
03:05 to virtually every other country in the world.
03:07 As you said, we should put this in a global context.
03:10 And you went on record as saying, and quoting, that we are all awaiting the US election
03:15 outcomes, waiting to see how China responds to that.
03:18 So how much weight does China-US relations carry on China-Australia relations?
03:25 What happens between China and the United States has both direct and indirect effects
03:31 to countries, all countries, that are trading with the United States and with China.
03:37 In our case, we're particularly interested to know what's happening, because if there
03:42 is a further deterioration of the relationship between the United States and China, if there's
03:47 a further decoupling of the markets, then the impact for Australia is quite significant.
03:53 The potential for the disruption of supply chains, or the creation of different data
03:59 systems and means of communication with China, will create a number of very fundamental issues,
04:06 which will impact the way in which we engage with our trade globally, not just with China
04:11 and not just with America.