CHINESE TRANSLATION SPECIALISTS

It seems everyone has one eye on China now – no matter what type of business, but where are the opportunities going to be and in what sectors? Over 100 businesses have joined the Australia China 2.0 Mission. Trade Minister Emerson is leading this group of entrepreneurs, educators, sustainability and design experts as well as service providers on a mission focussing on China’s second tier cities and driving Australia’s next level of engagement with our largest trading partner.

Plenty of evidence of success already with a number of large projects to be signed off at ceremonies during the ten day visit.  High on the agenda are clean energy, environment, urbanisation, logistics and financial services.

Foreign Minister Rudd coined this new term -  Australia-China 2.0 – to represent a new phase and a new approach to working with China. The inland Chinese cities are going to drive high growth  for the next decades – some of them forecast growth of over 20% into the future -  and top of the mission list is urbanisation.  In 2010 China built new floorspace equivalent to the entire stock of housing in Spain (China’s second- and third-tier cities, Opportunities for Australia, Economist Intelligence Unit 2011). As this EIU report indicates, housing construction in China drives a wide range of activity in China from infrastructure to cars and retail and has a direct link with China’s GDP and, of course, to Australia’s economic outlook.

Opportunities for Australia

The Economist Intelligence Unit report, just launched by the Trade Minister,  explores opportunities for Australia in the inland parts of China, following the trajectory of the mission. As well as urbanisation and all its flow ons, another area of interest to Australia is the change to the Household Registration system (hukou) underway in China.  Currently entitlements to health, education and social security support are linked to one’s original place of residence – so a huge number of new urban and rural residents miss out.  As China attempts to streamline access to these services, so will China’s need for medical technology come to the fore.

China’s industries are changing too from low end manufacturing to higher value-add, high-tech work supported by a burgeoning service sector and greater investment in education and training.  China’s inland cities generally have poor quality tertiary education hence another target for Australia and one we need to pay great attention to as the US and UK up the ante in attracting students from China. The latest statistics from DIAC show student numbers declining – The Age Newspaper yesterday reported a 24% drop in Chinese student applications.

Aged care is another focus of the Chinese government as population growth starts to decline in around 2025. China will be an aged country before its people are well off, presenting a new challenge for the government to look after them.

Growth in the broad services sector has hardly got started in China. Yet, as the Foreign Minister outlined when spruiking the mission around Australia, China is already the world’s fourth largest exporter of commercial services – a 32% increase on the previous year (also the third largest importer of services)!

Chin Communications Managing Director  Charles Qin, Australia’s leading Mandarin Interpreter, is accompanying the Minister delivering high-level language support and helping to ensure an enlightening and worthwhile experience in driving Australia’s new engagement with China.  To find out more about the Mission: Rudd and Emerson China Mission and for some of Rudd’s presentation: Asialink Australia China Services Trade is the Future.