Advertisement
As China and Australia trade barbs on coronavirus and racism, property market joins list of casualties
- Relations between China and Australia have soured amid trade, pandemic and racism issues
- Mainland Chinese are among the biggest real estate investors and source of foreign students in Australia
Reading Time:3 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
The fraying relations between Beijing and Canberra are likely to worsen the Australian real estate market that relies on Chinese money for its recent vigour. For a start, the cost may be to the tune of A$715 million (US$494 million) by one estimate.
The row over a host of issues, from the coronavirus pandemic to barley trade and alleged racism, will keep Chinese investors and students away from the market, analysts said, in a major blow to the Australian economy, as they account for the biggest source of inflows in major cities like Sydney and Melbourne.
China earlier this month warned its citizens about the risk of racial discrimination in Australia, a veiled retaliation against its trade partner for supporting an international probe into the origin of the coronavirus. The US has also questioned the source of the virus, first reported in Wuhan in central Hubei province.
Advertisement
Asians, led by mainland Chinese and Hongkongers, were the biggest buyers of Australian real estate, amounting to US$135 billion, over the past decade, especially in Sydney, before they slumped to a 12-year low last year, according to portal Juwai IQI.
In education, Chinese students made up 28 per cent of the 758,154 international students in Australia at the end of December 2019.
Advertisement
Advertisement
Select Voice
Choose your listening speed
Get through articles 2x faster
1.25x
250 WPM
Slow
Average
Fast
1.25x