China remains Australia’s ‘important trading partner’ despite tensions, decrease seen as ‘unimaginable’
- Australian trade official Elisabeth Bowes said that China’s ‘enormous economy’ makes it ‘unimaginable’ to think it will not remain an ‘important trading partner’
- Ties hit rock bottom during the height of the coronavirus in 2020 when Australia called for an independent inquiry into its origins in China
China is an “important trading partner” for Australia and will remain so in the face of headwinds ranging from coronavirus lockdowns to supply-chain disruptions, a senior government official said on Wednesday.
“It’s such an enormous economy. It will be almost unimaginable to think that that importance will decrease significantly,” said Elisabeth Bowes, the first assistant secretary and chief negotiator with the Regional Trade Agreements Division within the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
Speaking at an Asia Society panel discussion in Melbourne, she highlighted that Australia’s exports to China are higher than this time last year, following record two-way trade of A$282 billion (US$178 billion) in 2021.
Australia has been a rare beneficiary of Russia’s war on Ukraine. The invasion triggered a commodity squeeze that sent prices for coal and liquefied natural gas soaring, providing a windfall for the resource-rich economy.
That run is clouded by economic headwinds in China, the only country in the world still pursuing a zero-Covid strategy, as well as a lack of resolution over trade bans and tariffs on Australian goods.