Increased Chinese engagement with the Australian industry would come as no surprise to anyone attending AIMEX this year as a large slather of the exhibition is dominated by a China mining equipment brand show.
Oh yeah, and then there’s that China-Australia free trade agreement, signed in June.
Made up of more than 200 businesses across various industries, HunterNet said the MoU was a result of ongoing work to get more of a foot in the door with Tai’an, help along by a grant from Austrade.
Hunternet CEO Tony Cade said that the collective supported Trade Minister Andrew Robb’s plan to pursue opportunities created by the China-Australia free trade agreement.
“The Hunternet/China Council for the Promotion of International Trade MOU will go a long way to foster opportunities for local Hunter businesses, which is in line with the government’s goal to harness commercial opportunities in Asia for small to medium sized Australian businesses,” he said.
“Thanks to the support received from Austrade we have already signed two separate MOUs with Chinese industry bodies and agencies in 2014, and these have resulted in at least one multi-million dollar win to a local Hunter business.
“We have several more opportunities in the pipeline that are leading towards new products and patents of significant value.”
China Council for the Promotion of International Trade vice president Zhang Bin praised the high levels of collaboration between industry and Australian universities and scientific institutions.
“There are plenty of patents and new technologies under development in Australia, and Australian suppliers have significant experience,” Zhang said.
“We really hope we can bring Australian companies and new technology into China, as well as introducing complementary companies and technologies into Australia to promote cooperation in mining equipment and other hi-tech areas between us.
“Today’s memorandum of understanding with Hunter Alliance is a good start towards more collaborative projects in the future.”
Zhang will visit the Hunter district and meet with a range of companies, as well as visiting the University of NSW and the University of Newcastle on behalf of CCPIT’s 500 member companies.
