Aussie eyes on China

AUSTRADE chief economist Tim Harcourt has emphasised the importance for Australian businesses of understanding that China has taken over as the fastest growing consumer spending country in the world, and the enormous export potential this presents. Mr Harcourt made the comment at the launch of Austrade’s ‘Australian Style Open House’ in Shanghai last weekend as part of its Celebrate Australia events. “Real consumer spending in China has been growing at an average annual pace of 10 per cent over the past decade – the fastest in the world,” Mr Harcourt said. “The proportion of Australian small-to-medium sized (SMEs) businesses exporting to China has doubled in the past two years, indicating there’s lots of interest in Chinese consumer markets for Australian products and services.” Austrade Shanghai-based senior trade commissioner Christopher Wright reinforced Mr Harcourt’s comments, saying the China market is ideal for Australian SMEs. “In Shanghai and the surrounding Yangtze River Delta Region, there are more consumers than the entire population of Australia. Consumers in the world’s most populous country have diverse tastes, so capturing just a small proportion of the market in China offers Australian businesses enormous potential for growth,” Mr Wright said. He said the range of Australian products already available for sale in China and the number and diversity of Australian suppliers seeking Chinese partners and buyers was growing every day.