AustCham Shanghai Chairman, Peter Arkell, outlines the highs for the Australian business community in Shanghai over March and April.
The biggest headlines clearly belonged to the visit to Shanghai by the Prime Minister, Tony Abbott, and his bevy of Australia’s top echelon of business leaders, Trade Minister Andrew Robb and his 600+ trade mission delegates, and the Premiers from NSW, Victoria, Western Australia, South Australia, Tasmania and the Chief Minister for the ACT.
Has there ever been such a cast anywhere? Some of the AustCham community were exceptionally fortunate to have a breakfast with the PM and the Premiers and CEOs in Shanghai, and to be part of that gathering was quite remarkable. There was a great feeling of unity of purpose in that relatively small gathering and the powerful message was that the China-Australia links are incredibly important.
Tony Abbott’s address picked up the sporting analogy of Team Australia to say that the Free Trade Agreements achieved before the China visit in South Korea and Japan were the first two goals of the match, but to win we were challenged to kick the winning China FTA goal.
From that power breakfast, it was lunch with the PM and 1800 guests gathered at the Shanghai Expo site. The speeches to this massive crowd by Mr Abbott and the Shanghai Mayor Yang Xiong emphasised the enduring links between China and Australia and the PM warmly welcomed continued Chinese investment into Australia, saying that trade and investment were the means to greater friendship between our countries.
*Pictured left: Peter Arkell, Chairman, AustCham Shanghai, Tony Abbott, Prime Minister of Australia, Richard Petty, Chairman, AustCham Hong Kong and Macau and James O’Loughlin, Managing Director, AustCham Shanghai.
The PM said that he had never spoken to such a large Chinese audience, or one that was so quiet. The message was great in its warmth and invitation to China as a partner in Australia. He said that he was confident that the China FTA would be signed in November this year when the Chinese President Xi Jinping visits Australia.
The occasion provided the first occasion that all of the Chairmen and a number of Directors from the AustCham Greater China member Chambers were assembled. Shanghai was honoured to have hosted its friends from Beijing, Hong Kong, Guangzhou and Chengdu. Never have we had all five Chambers together as one.
Before the Prime Minister arrived, there had been a terrific event to announce the finalists for the AustCham Westpac Australia China Business Awards. Trade Minister Andrew Robb and Westpac China President Andy Whitford announced the finalists from the record 96 applications. Australian businesses across Greater China were recognised and that was a fabulous indicator of the success of Australian business in China.
Another small piece of history occurred earlier in the week, with the ABC’s Q&A being broadcast out of Shanghai live to Australia. It was suggested that this was the first occasion that a program had gone live to Australia from China. A huge audience was there for the event and the opportunity to send some of the realities of China back to Australian lounge rooms was very significant. And throughout the week, Jim Middleton from the ABC’s The World was busy filing stories based around AustCham members. The support of the ABC and Australia Network in bringing the shows to Shanghai was much appreciated.
But among all of those wonderful and historic moments, there was one that really mattered to the AustCham Shanghai community. On March 27, the first ever Extraordinary General Meeting of the Chamber voted to replace its Articles of Association and Bylaws with newly written Articles. The details are on the AustCham website, and it was a remarkable display of unity among Chamber members as more than 90 members voted unanimously to adopt the new rules for governing the Chamber. It was a very proud moment for the Chamber and a day for the history books. A sign of our maturity as an organisation and the value of the 20 years experience that has guided the Chamber to this point. These new Articles were written in collaboration with representatives from AustCham in Beijing and South China and will be adopted by them at their AGMs in mid-year. Also rolled out to the new AustCham West China based in Chengdu.
That will be historic, in that all Australia Chambers will be operating under the same set of Articles of Association, while maintaining their extremely important local identities.
So, at the risk of overstatement, it was a remarkable couple of months in Shanghai for the AustCham community. As the 21st ACBAs winners are announced and the FTA gets to its conclusion, we look forward to more history in the making. ■
*For more information about AustCham Shanghai, visit: www.austchamshanghai.com