Research reports

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.

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

Executive summary

Fintech payments innovation in China, driven by in-app mobile payments usage, is transforming the way in which people and businesses pay for goods and services.

Executive Summary

Australia lives with an acute ‘fear of abandonment’.

In security terms this fear has underpinned Australian foreign policy settings for decades. Recently, doubts about the reliability of the United States as Australia’s security guarantor have sent Australian government ministers on a mission to convince America that ongoing – and expanded – engagement with Australia’s neighbourhood is in its own interests.

Abstract

Executive Summary

- When the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement (ChAFTA) was signed in 2015 claims were made that Australian jobs would go to Chinese workers and safety standards on Australian work sites would fall. 

When Australia talks about China, the China Opportunity and the China Challenge forms part of the discourse. The China Opportunity reflects the enormous economic benefits that Australia already derives from its $184 billion trade relationship with China, along with the potential for this to grow even further as 850 million more Chinese reach middle class status by 2030, placing Australian beef, wine, education and tourism within their grasp. Strands of China’s foreign policy also favour an approach of multilateral engagement in line with the preferences of the Australian government.

Executive summary

- Major ‘infrastructure gaps’ plague the Asia-Pacific region, constraining economic integration and undermining development efforts.

- In 2013, China launched two new projects – the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) – to lead regional efforts to plug these infrastructure gaps.

The rapid changes in China’s economy and society since the reform period have generated strong opportunities for exporters of natural resources, and Australian seafood exporters have responded accordingly. Australian seafood products now have a significant presence in the Chinese seafood market, characterised in particular by high-value products such as rock lobster and abalone.

There are currently 131,355 Chinese citizens studying at more than 30 Australian universities. This year the economic and cultural contributions these students make to Australian society have been overshadowed by media coverage of protests directed at Australian academics. To date there have been four reported incidents involving Chinese students, at Monash University, the Australian National University, the University of Sydney and the University of Newcastle respectively.