Execs to talk with China
ANZ chief executive Shayne Elliott and Woodside chief executive Meg O’Neill are among a group of senior Australian businesspeople taking part in a breakthrough video meeting with Chinese business leaders on Monday.
The meeting is the result of months of behind-the-scenes work by senior business leaders and comes at a time when Australian politicians have been unable to even make phone calls to their Chinese counterparts as political relations have deteriorated.
Trade Minister Dan Tehan, who publicly suggested that business could provide a breakthrough in the relationship soon after he was appointed to the role in December 2020, is understood to support the meeting.
It follows a meeting earlier this year between British executives doing business with China and Chinese officials and businesspeople.
One of the organisers, Hong Kong-based King & Wood Mallesons international director David Olsson, said the meeting was a “breakthrough”, but the idea was to find common ground for talks rather than strike specific deals.
He said climate change was a key area of interest for business leaders in both countries.
“Our aim is to start a process that brings us together around a topic where we have a clear shared interest,” he said. “Working together to find ways to decarbonise the mining, energy and resources sectors was a clear choice.
“It is the one clear area where Australia and China are most aligned in our ambitions to achieve net-zero carbon emissions in the coming decades and which offers the greatest scope for future collaboration.”
Fortescue Future Industries boss Julie Shuttleworth said business had played “a significant role in forging strong, long-term relationships with business and government in China”.
“Collaboration will be key to save our planet from its continuing global warming trajectory, and in line with Fortescue’s target to achieve net-zero Scope 3 emissions by 2040, we are engaging closely with customers in the crude steel manufacturing industry in China who are strongly committed to decarbonising their operations,” she said.
A report released last week by the Australia China Relations Institute says that many Australian business leaders are keen to do business with China despite political tensions.
“The need to convene a business discussion is not a new one – government and Australian businesses have been calling for a renewal of discussions for some time,” Mr Olsson said. “Overwhelmingly, the view (of attendees at the meeting) was that despite all the current difficulties in the relationship, a healthy trade and investment relationship is in the mutual interest of both nations. The Australian government and our Austrade teams are aware of what we are planning, but we specifically wanted this discussion to be grounded in business.”
Mr Olsson said he did not want to overplay the meeting but “the fact that we are meeting is a great outcome already”.
“I hope ... we can start to build a new understanding about what our value proposition is when we engage with China, and that from the Chinese side we receive a commitment to proceed.”