Original article by: Samuel Yang(From: ABC / Original link)
This Tianjin-based businessman once sold 20,000 bottles of Australian wine to Chinese customers each year, but as trade relations between Beijing and Canberra deteriorated, he was forced to abandon Australian imports altogether.
In late 2020, China imposed so-called ‘anti-dumping’ tariffs of up to 218% on Australian wine. Mr Tian said this forced many wine importers like himself to pivot their business and find alternative wine suppliers, such as those in Chile and the United States.
Lee McLean from Australian Grape and Wine, the peak body for Australia’s wine industry, told ABC: “The tariffs caused grape prices to fall sharply in some parts of Australia, and there is an oversupply of wine on the market. Some growers made the difficult decision in 2022 to leave some grapes unpicked, due to insufficient purchase contracts or prices that were simply too low.”
Tim Harcourt is the Chief Economist at the Institute for Public Policy and Governance at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) and a former Chief Economist at Austrade.
“I think this has genuinely hurt China,” said Professor Harcourt. “Ordinary business owners and consumers in China hold Australian goods in high regard for their quality and professional reputation. I believe they have been significantly harmed by the trade friction.”
“For Australian exporters, larger companies can manage — but the 10,000 small and medium-sized enterprises in the market have survived, though they’re doing it very tough.”
Kirk Yan:Head of Newstars Education & Migration’s Melbourne branch, an Australian registered migration agent with years of experience and in-depth research in interpreting migration policy and predicting policy changes, editor-in-chief of the Australia Migration Weekly Bulletin, and warmly known among students as “K-God”.
International education is one of Australia’s largest export industries, and China is its largest source of students.
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang sent a congratulatory message to incoming Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, breaking a diplomatic freeze that had lasted two and a half years. The end of nine years of Coalition government has sparked fresh hope for a reset in the bilateral relationship.
Premier Li Keqiang said last week that “China is willing to work with Australia to review the past and look to the future.”
This gesture was welcomed by some export industries.
“We hope this signals a willingness for dialogue at the political level between our two countries,” said McLean from Australian Grape and Wine, adding that while he did not expect the Chinese market to reopen immediately, he hoped this was the first step in a political reset.
Patrick Hutchinson, Chief Executive of the Australian Meat Industry Council, told ABC he welcomed any opportunity to reset the bilateral relationship and resume dialogue with China. “As always, we respect China’s sovereignty, and if they feel it is necessary, they can impose individual sanctions,” Hutchinson said. “But the issue for our industry has always been — and continues to be — losing the opportunity to engage with China.”
For Chinese business owners like Mr Tian and Mr Yan, the change of Australian government was “positive news,” though both said they remained “cautiously optimistic.”
Over the past few years, Australian export industries have been working to diversify in order to minimise supply chain disruptions and offset the impact of losing the Chinese market.
But McLean said market diversification cannot happen overnight, and no single market or group of markets could fill the void left by China — Australian businesses could only work to create opportunities elsewhere.
Professor Harcourt said that while diversification had proven more effective in the short term than he had anticipated, improving relations with China would be strategically important over the long term. “China has 300 million middle-class consumers, whose purchasing power could exceed the combined value of Indonesia, India, and the United States. Diversifying trade partners is certainly important, but China must be part of Australia’s future.”
He also noted that, at the very least, the new government would not be as unhelpful to the bilateral relationship — or to Chinese Australians — as Morrison and Dutton had been.
“I think Albanese will be a China-engaging Prime Minister in the tradition of Whitlam and Hawke… rather than someone who is either sinophobic or sinophilic — he will engage with China as an important part of the global economy,” he said. “Having our first Foreign Minister of Chinese heritage, Penny Wong, is also an asset, because it shows the modern face of Australia, and I think China will recognise that.”
