Research reports

China-Russia cooperation in advanced technologies: The future global balance of power and the limits of 'unlimited' partnership

December

Executive Summary

Advanced technologies are a key factor in the evolving international balance of power. The United States-allied group of states, including Australia, are still generally technology leaders. But the People’s Republic of China (PRC) is making major gains in some fields, spurred by growing pressure on its access to foreign technologies. What impacts might the PRC’s cooperation with Russia have on this equation?

This report provides an overview of Sino-Russian collaboration across four broad fields:

China, Australia’s national security choices and great power competition in the Indo-Pacific

December

Executive Summary

This paper assesses Australia’s current security and defence policy trajectory and examines what strategies Australia might pursue to serve its interests in the fractured and complex regional order emerging in the Indo-Pacific strategic space.

In making this assessment, the paper traces the Sino-Australian relationship, identifying the main rationales for Canberra’s decision to pivot away from the hedge posture it pursued under prime ministers John Howard through to Tony Abbott.

The China consensus

December

THE CHINA CONSENSUS: A PRE-ELECTION SURVEY OF COALITION GOVERNMENT AND AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY POLICIES ON THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA

By Elena Collinson

Executive Summary

Behind the headlines: Why Australian companies are still doing business with China

December

Executive Summary

The political relationship between Canberra and Beijing started going off the rails in 2016. The first casualty was a diplomatic freeze. In 2020, political tensions spilled over to disrupt around a dozen Australian goods exports. The Australian government responded by loudly urging businesses to diversify as geopolitical risks jumped.

Economic reality bites: What Australia needs to know amidst US-China strategic competition

December

Executive Summary

Australia's export mix, industrial base and economic resilience challenge

December

video summary of the report is available.

 

Executive Summary

Introduction

The Australia-China science boom

December

In the mid-2000s Australia had delivered a China-led mining boom that continues today. Australia’s success as a producer of raw materials such as iron ore is well known. While domestic demand is negligible, in 2019 Australia’s iron ore exports totalled $96.1 billion (Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, 2020). The partner that has made this possible is China, buying 82.2 percent of Australia’s exports. China has also been a major supplier of the capital needed to develop Australian mines (Ferguson et al., 2020).

COVID-19 and the Australia-China relationship’s zombie economic idea

December

Executive Summary

Dealing with commercial legal risks in the People's Republic of China: a primer for Australian businesses

December

Despite major legal reforms over the past two decades, the legal system in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) remains very different from Australia. Businesses that trade or invest in the PRC need to be keenly aware of these differences in order to minimise the risks of legal disputes or becoming a target of the PRC government’s anti-corruption campaign. Australian businesses also require a basic understanding of dispute resolution options in the PRC – litigation versus arbitration or mediation – and what to expect when a business relationship in the PRC turns ugly.

Australia-China: a series of reflections

December

Note: ‘Australia-China: a series of reflections’ was originally published in December 2019 as the Pearls and Irritations China Series. Pearls and Irritations is a public policy blog founded and managed by John Menadue AO, who has had a distinguished career in the private sector and in the Australian Public Service.

Preface