So what makes Beijing so special? One reason is the whole China phenomenon.
China will be keen to display its economic credentials to the world in Beijing and how advanced it is as an open market economy.
This is particularly important to Australia as China, even (by calendar year 2006) second largest export market (worth over $24 billion), our second largest trading partner ($50 billion worth of two-way trade) and a burgeoning source of and destination for foreign investment. [In fact some commentators have included Hong Kong with China to show that the combined total of the two markets now surpasses Japan in terms of two-way trade with Australia].
China’s economic progress has not only benefited the blue chip corporates such as the likes of BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto, Woodside and ANZ, as many Australian SMEs are heading within the great trade wall of China. According to Austrade/ABS/Sensis research, over 3800 Australian businesses export goods to China and 20 per cent of all exporting SMEs are involved in the China market – a proportion that has doubled in only two years.
According to Peter Osborne, Australia’s Senior Trade Commissioner in Beijing, who doubles as China Country manager: "We have a wide variety of Australian clients involved not just in resources but in new sectors, such as financial services. The demand business advice here in China is growing so strongly that we have grown our extensive Greater China network to 15 offices, and you’ll find an Austrade presence as far north as Dalian and as far south as Kunming."
Osborne expects the Beijing Olympics will be not only an opportunity for China to showcase the opportunities in its vast market, but it will also be an opportunity for Australia to display our credentials as well. "Every man and his dog will be in Beijing, so the Australians have got to show a strong showing too," he said.
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