Hogsback thinks this can be a virtuous cycle between the two nations leading to more value added transfer of intellectual property and greater exports through increased mining efficiency.

While there has been a considerable amount of fanfare about innovation in some political circles, original equipment manufacturers, research institutes, and some state governments are quietly planting the seeds for the next generation of mining innovation.      

The Queensland government is providing Queensland researchers and entrepreneurs access to expertise and investment opportunities in China through a new initiative called the Commercialisation Partnership Program.

Under the program partnership between the Queensland government and China’s Ministry of Science and Technology,  up to eight Queensland entrepreneurs and researchers placed in leading science and technology incubators in China.

Queensland was the first Australian state government to sign an agreement with MOST, dating back to 2008 and is the only Australian state to have a commercialisation program with MOST.

The CPP is a result of this strong relationship with MOST, which has also led to the establishment of the Australia China Joint Laboratory for Energy and Environmental Materials at Griffith University.

The Queensland government has committed $480,000 over four years to the Commercialisation Accelerator Program as part of the Advance Queensland Global Partnerships Awards, which aim to capitalise on outcomes from Queensland’s science, technology and innovation expertise.

Queensland Minister for Innovation Leeanne Enoch said successful applicants would have the opportunity to prototype, test, attract investment and commercialise innovative ideas at one of China’s leading science and technology incubators.

“They will have access to world-class facilities, mentors and local business links, and receive invaluable insight into the Chinese market as well as the potential to secure capital to refine their concept and get their business up and running,” she said.

China is the world largest producer of coal and it has pioneered several mining techniques that take advantage of the wide seams in its coal fields.

The longwall top coal caving technique that has been tried in Australia at Peabody’s North Goonyella mine in Queensland and Yancoal’s Austar mine in New South Wales is just one example of Chinese innovation and know-how being transferred to the Australian industry. 

China’s Vice-Minister for Science and Technology Professor Xu Nanping said the CPP program would focus on areas of mutual interest, including energy among other things.

“In China, we have great respect for the research and innovation coming out of Queensland,” he said.

“It makes a lot of sense for us to work with Queensland startups and innovators, assisting them in commercialising their innovations, so that China and Queensland can benefit.”

Australia’s relationship with China need not be one of shipping raw materials in return for cash until our resources run out. It could continue to grow as mining innovation and technology become more sophisticated and lead to Australia having an intellectual resource that can be exported for years to come.