LIVE BLOG: Australia in China's Century conference
And we're out. It's been a blast. #OZChinaCentury
— China Spectator (@ChinaSpec) May 30, 2014
That's all folks. Tune into The Australian over the weekend for more coverage of the event. Also keep an eye on China Spectator next week for some analysis on what was said today.
4.50pm
Conference wrap-up time. #OzChinaCentury pic.twitter.com/0vwLHqTdEN
— China Spectator (@ChinaSpec) May 30, 2014
And that's it for the conference. The Australia's foreign editor Greg Sheridan is closing off the event.
He says he is going to be brief and offers five reflections:
1. Good China policy requires good policy with the rest of Asia.
2. Businessmen should not ask the government to moderate its multinational strategy.
3. The idea that we have to 'choose friends' in the Pacific is meaningless. Regard our strategic identify as fixed. Our alliance with the US isn't going away any time soon as it's a great asset to Australia.
4. Businesses must not blame all failed endeavours in China as a direct outcome of our Australia-China relationship.
5. We should put more effort into being culturally aware of China. But the same goes for the rest of Asia.
4.30pm
The panel's consensus on Australia-China relationships: negativity doesn't help and we need to better capture investment opps. #ausbiz
— China Spectator (@ChinaSpec) May 30, 2014
Wang Ling says the Chinese people want quality to improve, not just the GDP. #auspol #OzChinaCentury pic.twitter.com/ru3OLtOHo5
— China Spectator (@ChinaSpec) May 30, 2014
Nisbet: The 42mil tourists visiting Macau have led the government to improve its infrastructure on a scale that's never been seen before.
— China Spectator (@ChinaSpec) May 30, 2014
Oh, and Julie Bishop just put up the transcript from her talk this morning.
Delighted to speak at the second conference on Australia in China’s Century http://t.co/EX9LMMwDIw
— Julie Bishop (@JulieBishopMP) May 30, 2014
4.20pm
We're up to our last panel session for the day.
Final panel with Damon Kitney (moderator), Todd Nisbet, Laurie Smith, Wang Ling and Peter Fung #OzChinaCentury
— China Spectator (@ChinaSpec) May 30, 2014
China's economic march. Will it continue? #ausbiz #OzChinaCentury pic.twitter.com/mm4lVU7Jla
— China Spectator (@ChinaSpec) May 30, 2014
Also another video is up. Mike Komesaroff from Urandline Investments discusses iron ore.
4:10pm
Questions from the floor for Andrew Forrest.
Qn: What if Australia is wrong about China's future prospects? Andrew Forrest is visibly passionate fighting that question. #OzChinaCentury
— China Spectator (@ChinaSpec) May 30, 2014
Forrest: Any bet against #China is the only guaranteed loss I've seen in a long time #OzChinaCentury #auspol
— China Spectator (@ChinaSpec) May 30, 2014
4pm
Couple of interesting points from Forrest:
Forrest: Possibility of Fortescue moving into the gas industry. #OzChinaCentury
— China Spectator (@ChinaSpec) May 30, 2014
We mentioned this point in a news story earlier this week.
Andrew Forrest: Foreign policy should stop at the door of national interest. #OzChinaCentury #auspol
— China Spectator (@ChinaSpec) May 30, 2014
3.50pm
@John_Durie, Andrew Forrest (Fortescue Metals chair) and Michael Thawley in conversation now #OzChinaCentury
— China Spectator (@ChinaSpec) May 30, 2014
Forrest: By walking out on Brazil, Australia lost out on 250 million tons of iron ore. Ouch. #OzChinaCentury.
— China Spectator (@ChinaSpec) May 30, 2014
3.40pm
Michael Thawley debunks his four top myths about China's geo-political future:
1. The US' power and influence is not declining.
2. The US isn't seeking a military confrontation with China.
3. The rise of China won't desolate Japan.
4. Australia's approach to trade with China will not decide its future. This will mostly be driven by internal dynamics.
He adds that Australia should equally care about its China's neighbours (South Korea, Japan) and take a regional approach to improving relations.
3.30pm
And we're back for the last part of this conference. Still to come: another couple of panels that include Fortescue's Andrew Forrest, Crown's Todd Nisbet, Austrade's Laurie Smith and KPMG's Peter Fung.
Michael Thawley, former Aus ambassador to the US, opens the last third of today's conference. #OzChinaCentury pic.twitter.com/BPXJfFu8sS
— China Spectator (@ChinaSpec) May 30, 2014
3.05pm
And the panel ends with these points from the speakers.
The panel agree that we need to take a risk management model to foreign investment. #ausbiz #OzChinaCentury
— China Spectator (@ChinaSpec) May 30, 2014
Westacott on foreign investment in Australia: We've approved $15.8bn of investment applications. But we could still be more transparent.
— China Spectator (@ChinaSpec) May 30, 2014
And that's all for the panel! Tea break for the weary, and we'll be back in a little bit.
— China Spectator (@ChinaSpec) May 30, 2014
And another point from the discussion, written up by Robb Stewart from the Wall Street Journal.
"Australia's massive pension-fund industry will need to push into Asia for investments, says Heather Ridout, chairwoman of pension-fund firm Australian Super. Ms. Ridout, who is also a Reserve Bank of Australia board member, says pensions are a source of patient, long-term capital. However, Australian funds face competition and a vast amount of money "sloshing around" for funds globally, she tells the Australia in China's Century Conference."
2.50pm
A question that ended up as a statement. So, are we overthinking this?
A member of the audience says we're making the relationships between China and Australia too complicated. Good point. #OzChinaCentury
— China Spectator (@ChinaSpec) May 30, 2014
More video: MMG's Andrew Michelmore on the future of Australia's business in China
2.40pm
The panel session is still underway, but here's something to break it up: a video interview with ANZ China's Charles Li.
We should also give a shout out to @WebPresenseInChina, who has been really active on the #OzChinaCentury hashtag, offering some interesting insights.
@WestAustralia Why does W.A. only attract 30,000 Chinese tourists each year? A -1960's marketing strategy. #shouldbeonline #OzChinaCentury
— WebPresenceInChina (@WebPresInChina) May 30, 2014
@chincomms TRUE. But how many AUS firms are online in China? < 250. How many native Aussies are fluent in 普通话? < 2000. #OzChinaCentury
— WebPresenceInChina (@WebPresInChina) May 30, 2014
@ChinaSpec Too much? We aren't even close to tapping into the 中国 market. Not even close. 700,000 is nothing. #muchtolearn #OzChinaCentury
— WebPresenceInChina (@WebPresInChina) May 30, 2014
@ChinaSpec Too much? We aren't even close to tapping into the 中国 market. Not even close. 700,000 is nothing. #muchtolearn #OzChinaCentury
— WebPresenceInChina (@WebPresInChina) May 30, 2014
2:20pm
Big session #ozchinacentury incl. Jennifer Westacott, Heather Ridout, Mike Komesaroff, Rod Jones & John O'Sullivan pic.twitter.com/VNakD9VGZn
— Australian Business (@aus_business) May 30, 2014
Rod Jones (CEO, Navitas): Intl students from China will grow 50-100% from the current 4-4.5m by 2025 #OzChinaCentury
— China Spectator (@ChinaSpec) May 30, 2014
Westacott: Endless ad-hoc changes to the tax system will send a wrong signal, and we need to stop it. #OzChinaCentury
— China Spectator (@ChinaSpec) May 30, 2014
Heather Ridout, chair of AustralianSuper, speaks on need to develop diversity of economy with China. #Ozchinacentury pic.twitter.com/hHtFV6UtX5
— China Spectator (@ChinaSpec) May 30, 2014
2pm
Some interesting points from the COO of Seven Group Holdings Ryan Stokes.
50% more Chinese students in the US. Oz is 25% more expensive than US in USD; there'll be more benefits in expiring our education to China.
— China Spectator (@ChinaSpec) May 30, 2014
Stokes: We must seek to deepen our understanding of Chinese culture, to engage with a curious intellect.
— China Spectator (@ChinaSpec) May 30, 2014
Stokes's overwhelming message is to embrace the influence that China has on the region, and to capitalise on its increasing urbanisation.
— China Spectator (@ChinaSpec) May 30, 2014
And an astute observation from Twitter user Kate Richie.
Take away theme from #ozchinacentury is that we all end to embrace and learn more about China - esp culture & language to build our future
— Kate Ritchie (@chincomms) May 30, 2014
1:50pm
And we're back.
That was a good lunch! Next up on stage is Ryan Stokes, COO of Seven Group Holdings #OzChinaCentury
— China Spectator (@ChinaSpec) May 30, 2014
Here's a highlights video of Warwick Smith's talk that was put together over the break.
And another of Peter Cai's chat with Wall Street Journal China editor Xin Lin.
Also, The Australian filed this on SEEK's efforts in China.
"SEEK chief executive Andrew Bassat says its Chinese online-job-market business, Zhaopin, has not experienced any impact from the slowdown of the Chinese economy in recent months.
“The business has been really strong,’’ Mr Bassat told the Australia in China’s Century conference in Melbourne today.
“Whatever the economy over recent years, every year we improve in our service. The metrics are growing rapidly ... Broadly our numbers have been growing pretty strongly in terms of revenue and profit.’’
12:50pm
David Winning and Andrew Browne up as 'lunchtime entertainment'. #OZChinaCentury pic.twitter.com/dZg1B1ez2w
— China Spectator (@ChinaSpec) May 30, 2014
12:15pm
Another interesting point about Australia's Visa program from Rowan Craigie, chief executive of Crown Resorts.
Craigie: Need a visa system that matches competing countries. Still in English only - Federal government has a role to play #OzChinaCentury
— China Spectator (@ChinaSpec) May 30, 2014
Australia had 100,000 Chinese tourists in 2000, 700,000 in 2013 and is expected to have 1.4 million in 2020. #OzChinaCentury #ausbiz
— Business Spectator (@BusinessSpec) May 30, 2014
Some more interesting points:
Globally, there were 10 million Chinese tourists in 2000. That number has increased to around 100 million in 2013. It's expected that figure will double to 200 million by 2020.
Pulling Australia into those stats, 100,000 visited the country in 2000, 700,000 visited last year, and 1.4 million are projected to visit by 2020.
Craigie adds that the government needs to look at how it processes visas and refine its airport arrival experience. Chinese tourists will compare us to the US, Hong Kong and Singapore when deciding whether they will visit the country.
We're breaking for lunch now, more updates shortly.
12:00pm
Fascinating conversation about social media in China.
@peteryuancai on Skype to Beijing with Xin Li, Managing Editor of http://t.co/YiLmP2RjK1 pic.twitter.com/Xz9E31rwh0
— China Spectator (@ChinaSpec) May 30, 2014
#ozchinacentury @peteryuancai people break news on weibo= media in china; wechat is like going to a 'bar' says Xin Li, Wall St Journal
— Kate Ritchie (@chincomms) May 30, 2014
Xin Li: You can say a lot more with 140 characters in Chinese than English on twitter #OzChinaCentury #twitter #social
— China Spectator (@ChinaSpec) May 30, 2014
Oh and our first video is up. Here's a wrap of Julie Bishop's speech from earlier this morning.
11.45am
The Q&A panel members sit down to discuss business in China and how to build an online business. #ozchinacentury pic.twitter.com/KB0QnrX8GU
— China Spectator (@ChinaSpec) May 30, 2014
Largest supplier of global capital is China. An increase in Chinese capital capability. Next step is an open market economy - Smith
— China Spectator (@ChinaSpec) May 30, 2014
#OzChinaCentury impt of FTA with #china - many countries have passed us. Will send a ve message & is essential - Warwick smith @auschinaBC
— Kate Ritchie (@chincomms) May 30, 2014
11.30am
Stats, stats and more stats from Warwick Smith.
In 2012 - 3000 Australians studying in Chinese unis.
— China Spectator (@ChinaSpec) May 30, 2014
Warwick Smith: Chinese tourists spent $4.7bn in Australia for 2013 #OzChinaCentury #ausbiz
— China Spectator (@ChinaSpec) May 30, 2014
Smith: "Our ability to be competitive depends on how we develop our education system. 12% of all Chinese students abroad study in Australia"
— China Spectator (@ChinaSpec) May 30, 2014
Meanwhile, it's great to see some Twitter users join in the conversation on the #OzChinaCentury hashtag.
Education, tourism, arts and trade offer China and Australia a comprehensive and dynamic relationship #OzChinaCentury
— swanetta (@carleyswan) May 30, 2014
#ozchinacentury - Chinese students studying OS: 24% to USA, 13% Japan and 12% Australia - not bad!
— Kate Ritchie (@chincomms) May 30, 2014
We'll have some videos up soon. In the meantime, The Australian's Barry Fitzgerald has filed a story from the conference about China's crackdown on air pollution.
"CHINA’S crackdown on air pollution has emerged as one of the key factors in the slide in iron ore prices to 20-month lows, the Australia in China’s Century conference was told today.
Andrew Michelmore, the chief executive of the Chinese state-controlled but Australian-managed miner MMG, told the conference that Beijing was acutely aware of the air pollution problems and that as locals noted, it was a problem shared by peasants and government officials."
11.20am
Warwick Smith's up to talk about Australia projecting its soft power in China. #OZChinaCentury pic.twitter.com/yXMtY7MpqV
— China Spectator (@ChinaSpec) May 30, 2014
11.10am
Morning tea time.
Yup, even journos need to eat every now and then. pic.twitter.com/Sl9b20GG1g
— China Spectator (@ChinaSpec) May 30, 2014
Some behind the scenes interviews going on at the #OzChinaCentury conference. We'll have the footage up soon. pic.twitter.com/8ga60mxSxs
— China Spectator (@ChinaSpec) May 30, 2014
Also, here is an article from our partners at the WSJ on Seek's plans for Asia.
10.45am
Another interesting factoid:
John Lee: China had 180,000 instances of protest last year. They want access to justice, against corrupted government officials.
— China Spectator (@ChinaSpec) May 30, 2014
Remember, you can join in the conversation on the #OzChinaCentury hashtag on Twitter. Morning Tea, we're taking a brief break now. Be back soon.
10.25am
The Q&A continues.
— China Spectator (@ChinaSpec) May 30, 2014
Andrew Browne to John Lee: Could the fight against corruption bring the government down? #OZChinaCentury
— China Spectator (@ChinaSpec) May 30, 2014
John Lee (Adj Prof, Centre for International Security Studies, USyd): You're not going to have a Lehman Brothers moment in China.
— China Spectator (@ChinaSpec) May 30, 2014
Chang: SOEs get 80% of funding, direct private companies get 20%. This may not be sustainable. #OZChinaCentury
— China Spectator (@ChinaSpec) May 30, 2014
Chang: The IMF found that for every dollar the gov't spends on healthcare, a household will spend double that. #OZChinaCentury
— China Spectator (@ChinaSpec) May 30, 2014
ANZ China's Li wrote a piece on his talk for The Australian earlier this week. Read it here.
"THE idea of Australians packing Chinese currency in their wallets, instead of US dollars, when travelling overseas is probably a step too far for the foreseeable future.
But there is little doubt the renminbi has potential to become one of the world’s big three currencies by 2020. There is also great potential for China and Australia to boost financial co-operation by tapping the opportunities from China’s financial reforms and harnessing China’s capital outflow."
10.10am
The Q&A panel members take their seats to discuss the outcomes of the 18th National Congress. #OZChinaCentury pic.twitter.com/W8fAaK03ry
— China Spectator (@ChinaSpec) May 30, 2014
Question to ANZ Chief Charles Li: Will China continue on the old way of pumping money in, or will they enact reforms? #OzChinaCentury
— China Spectator (@ChinaSpec) May 30, 2014
9.55am
ANZ China's chief executive, Dr Charles Li takes the stage with some bad news...
Charles Li: Is China slowing down? Yes. Recent economic indicators show clearly. #OzChinaCentury
— China Spectator (@ChinaSpec) May 29, 2014
ANZ China CEO Charles Li says even with China slowing to 7% its adding an economy the size of Sth Korea every year #OzChinaCentury
— Stephen Ries (@stephenries) May 29, 2014
Li: Three key areas: Adjust economic structure, reform of govt functions, encourage innovation and new technology #OzChinaCentury
— China Spectator (@ChinaSpec) May 30, 2014
Also, it seems we are selling quite a variety of books here too...
Here are some of our titles looking pretty at the Australia in China’s Century conference today! #OzChinaCentury pic.twitter.com/it2BFLTUc4
— Black Inc. (@BlackIncBooks) May 29, 2014
9.40am
An update on the agenda. As with all conferences, we're running a touch late, so add around 5 to 10 minutes on these times.
9.35am - Dr Charles Li, chief executive of ANZ China
10.00am- Panel discussion on how China managed down its economy and the outcomes of the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China. With Andrew Browne, former WSJ China bureau chief and current China World columnist, John Lee, adjunct professor at the University of Sydney, Jason Chang, president of the Victorian chapter of the Australia China Business Council, and Dr Charles Li, chief executive of ANZ China
11:00am - The Hon Warwick Smith AM, chairman, Australia China Council and Global Trustee & Chairman, Asia Society Australia
11:25am - Panel discussion on doing business in China and how to build online. With Rowan Callick, Asia Pacific Editor of The Australian, Andrew Bassat, chief executive and co-founder of Seek and The Hon Warwick Smith AM.
12:10pm - Live link to Beijing with Xin Li, managing editor of Chinese online edition of The Wall Street Journal and Peter Cai, editor of China Spectator.
12:15pm - Rowen Craigie, chief executive of Crown Resorts and Damon Kitney, Victorian business editor, The Australian.
Q&A time with Geoff Elliott and Andrew Michelmore. #OZChinaCentury pic.twitter.com/v5tDIM6v0j
— China Spectator (@ChinaSpec) May 29, 2014
"6 mil people live on $600 a year and the gov't has to get that to $2000. How do you do that?" - Michelmore. #OZChinaCentury
— China Spectator (@ChinaSpec) May 29, 2014
9.30am
MMG's Andrew Michelmore takes the stage.
Andrew Michelmore: "China needs resources, minerals and clean agricultural products. They are short of those products." #OzChinaCentury
— China Spectator (@ChinaSpec) May 29, 2014
Also, good to see some tweets from the crowd. Join in on the #OzChinaCentury hashtag.
James Packer makes it clear he wants to do more business with Kerry Stokes...not only in China. Full stop! #OzChinaCentury @australian
— Stephen Ries (@stephenries) May 29, 2014
9.05 am
An interesting statistic:
33% of Australian exports go to China, only 7% of US exports go to China. #OzChinaCentury
— Business Spectator (@BusinessSpec) May 29, 2014
8.50am
Julie Bishop takes the stage. Here are some tweets of her speech:
"Is calling the 21st Century the China Century sound a bit premature?" #OzChinaCentury
— China Spectator (@ChinaSpec) May 29, 2014
The Hon Julie Bishop outlining the two paths China could take on its rise. pic.twitter.com/OLB3CWm9If
— China Spectator (@ChinaSpec) May 29, 2014
"As the Economist has put it, a China that grows old before it can grow rich" #OzChinaCentury
— China Spectator (@ChinaSpec) May 29, 2014
"Indonesia will become an increasingly important partner in the region" #OzChinaCentury
— China Spectator (@ChinaSpec) May 29, 2014
"We must compete in a tough global marketplace, as we have always done" Bishop #OzChinaCentury
— China Spectator (@ChinaSpec) May 29, 2014
Read The Australian's article ahead of Bishop's keynote this morning here.
"FOREIGN Minister Julie Bishop will tell The Australian’s “Australia in China’s Century” conference today the event’s title cannot be fully assumed: it is still unclear whether this will indeed be China’s century or not.
“China is the fastest rising power of our time … we will be working through the implications of China’s rise for at least a generation.”
8:40am
Julian Clarke says The Australian is proud to cover Australia-China relations. Adds that the relationship will serve as a pivotal point in Australia's history.
Ahead of the video presentation with Crown's James Packer later this morning, Damon Kitney filed this story.
"JAMES Packer is open to doing business deals in China with fellow billionaire and close friend Kerry Stokes after the pair recently accompanied Tony Abbott on a landmark trade mission to the world’s fastest-growing economy.
In a wide-ranging interview with The Australian ahead of the Australia in China’s Century Conference in Melbourne today, Mr Packer also revealed that he would like to involve his Asian gaming partner Lawrence Ho in any expansion by his RatPac Entertainment business into China."
Welcome to the Australia in China's Century live blog. We’ll be uploading videos, curating tweets and providing insight on the event through out the day.
Follow the event along on Twitter with the #OzChinaCentury hashtag.
On the agenda this morning:
8.30 am - News Corp CEO Julian Clarke will open the conference.
8.35 am - Foreign minister Julie Bishop will deliver the keynote address.
8.55 am - A video interview between Crown CEO James Packer and The Australian’s Victorian business editor Damon Kitney
9.05 am - Andrew Michelmore, an Australian running Chinese-owned mining company MMG Ltd offers his insights on doing business in Australia.