Value of Australian wine exports to China falls 96 per cent
China’s top diplomat in Australia has warned Chinese students and tourists will question whether to return to Australia after the coronavirus pandemic, raising the possibility of further trade blows to Australian goods.
The comments from ambassador Cheng Jingye come as Australian winemakers reel from a 96 per cent drop in the value of their exports to China.
They follow the federal government’s decision to cancel Victoria’s Belt and Road agreement, a move labelled ‘‘unreasonable and irrational’’ by Cheng on Thursday.
The ambassador has become increasingly critical of Australia’s actions over the past year, spurred on by a jingoistic Foreign Ministry in Beijing. The criticism has followed Canberra’s decision to block Chinese investments, institute national security measures, escalate its military spending and rhetoric, and condemn Beijing’s human rights abuses.
‘‘Some claim that the problems in bilateral trade ties resulted from China’s economic coercion against Australia. What a ridiculous and irrelevant argument,’’ he said at the Australia China Business Council briefing. ‘‘As the old saying goes, whoever tied the knot is responsible for untying it.’’
China’s retaliatory strikes across A$20 billion (NZ$21.5 billion) in exports have hit local wine producers among the hardest of any industry.
Coal, barley and wood have largely been able to diversify into other markets but winemakers have seen the value of their exports to China fall from A$325 million between December 2019 and March last year to A$12 million during the same period this year.
Wine Australia chief executive officer Andreas Clark said the decline in exports was due mainly to a steep decline in Chinese imports as well as less volume available for export.
‘‘Notwithstanding the impact of China’s tariffs, we were still looking at a potential downturn in exports over this period simply due to the supply situation,’’ Clark said.
IBISWorld analysis in December showed Australian dairy, honey, fruit and pharmaceuticals, which derive between 30 and 40 per cent of their export income from China, were vulnerable to further trade strikes if relations continued to deteriorate.
But it is education and tourism that threaten to be the largest postCovid risk for Australia. In February, Australian universities began receiving reports that Chinese agencies in regional areas were being encouraged by local authorities not to send new students to Australia. China accounts for 37 per cent of Australia’s A$10 billiona-year foreign university student market.