AUSTRALIAN companies that set up offices in Hongkong are more likely to be successful in investing in China than those dealing direct with China from the outset, the Mayor of Zhuhai, Liang Guangda, said yesterday.
Mr Liang, who said Australian companies were behind other foreign investors in Zhuhai, said dealing through Hongkong would be easier and provide more understanding of the Chinese way of doing business. But it was advisable for foreign companies to complement that arrangement with offices in Chinese capital cities, he said.
''If Australians can both set up offices in Hongkong and get more involved in doing business with China that would be more beneficial,'' he said.
''By setting up offices in Hongkong it will be easier for Australian business people to get a better understanding and more comprehensive impression of China,'' he said.
Mr Liang, Guangdong representative on the Central Committee, is in Australia with a 10-member Zhuhai delegation to address the South China Forum, a series of briefings on the region that began in Melbourne yesterday and continue in Sydney and Brisbane next week.
He is keen to encourage Australian investment in Zhuhai. His delegation brought details of two dozen projects, including transport, communication and energy ventures in which foreign investment is sought.
Mr Liang was quick to reassure the more than 100 forum participants that the Zhuhai economy is not overheating: ''The economic developmentis not overheating because all this development is based on our own resources and our own effort''.