Ministerial Statement

China Trade Mission

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham—Premier) (14:03): I seek leave to make a ministerial statement.

Leave granted.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: Last week, our state sent its largest ever delegation to China as part of the 30^th anniversary of the South Australia-Shandong sister-state relationship. More than 300 people from the business community, state and local government, universities, as well as artists and athletes, visited five cities across the Shandong province during the week.

'Friendly Shandong' is how the province promotes itself to the world, and South Australia indeed has a deep friendship with the government and the people of Shandong. Our delegation was given a warm reception by Party Secretary Jiang, Shandong's highest-ranking official. Shandong's and South Australia's friendship is built upon more than just economic transactions; it is an exchange of our cultures that is critical to us forging closer ties.

For example, the language of sport is something both of our provinces share, with basketball being a great love of the Chinese people. Our Adelaide 36ers entered into a new partnership with Shandong's High-Speed team, and our boys were successful winners of the newly established Shandong-South Australia Friendly Cup, defeating their Chinese opponents 93 to 73. Our great city of Mount Gambier was showcased, with James Morrison and his students performing at the official state reception in Jinan and playing for delegates at a separate show in Qingdao, and South Australian photographers had their work showcased in an exhibition I presented to the Shandong Party Secretary.

I witnessed the signing of an agreement which will see 5,000 square metres of the South Australian pavilion at the Qingdao International Beer Festival in August. Its significance is that we are the first region to establish such a presence at the world's second biggest beer festival. This will showcase not only our premium produce to an estimated 2 million visitors to the site but also South Australia as a tourism and education destination, and cultural offerings, including fashion. It will also provide networking opportunities for our businesses.

The creation of South Australian jobs through trade and investment was of course the key focus of the visit, and I am pleased to report significant progress on a number of fronts. Preliminary feedback from businesses attending the mission shows that more than 371 new connections between South Australia and Chinese businesses were established. There have now been more than 124 prospective export leads, with an estimated value of $42.4 million, with at least 12 deals struck during the week. A further 52 new investment leads with an estimated value of $20 million were identified. Again, these are preliminary numbers based on feedback from businesses participating in the mission. We expect they will increase as we update the numbers once they are finalised.

The agreement between Iron Road and China Rail is an important milestone in the development of a new iron ore mine and rail and port infrastructure on the Eyre Peninsula. The agreement aims to bring this project to approval stage within the next 12 months, a project estimated to be worth $4 billion, offering the prospect of creating many new jobs just 200 kilometres south-west of Whyalla.

In Jinan, I met with one of Asia's largest ICT companies, Inspur Group. They have an interest in establishing operations in Australia, and we pitched to them the benefits of coming to our state. They liked what they saw and are now in discussions about bringing their operations to South Australia. I also used the mission to officially announce the first Chinese bilingual school to be established in South Australia. It was suggested by the Chinese Embassy in Canberra as possibly the first state-funded Chinese bilingual school in the English-speaking world. It received warm praise from the Shandong leadership, who will seek to support it with teaching staff.

Our meeting with China Southern Airlines has led to an agreement to promote our markets, ahead of proposed direct flights between Adelaide and Guangzhou. Securing this service, with direct flights to mainland China, would create around 100 direct jobs as well as significant benefits for our hotels, our restaurants and other tourism operators. Further, our trade minister remains in China—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: —where he will be meeting with the Shanghai Electric Power Generation Group, who are in deep discussions with Leigh Creek Energy regarding the takeover of the power and mining assets at Leigh Creek from Alinta. A heads of agreement between these companies is positive for the Upper Spencer Gulf, providing hope for towns such as Port Augusta and Whyalla and the northern regional town of Leigh Creek.

An agreement with the Hong Kong Arts Development Council to bring Hong Kong artists to the Oz Asia Festival means we are the first state in Australia to reach such an agreement. Our friendship with the government and people of Shandong remains strong. It is opening doors for South Australian companies to boost investment, trade, business and jobs, and we look forward to welcoming an inbound delegation from Shandong in September to further strengthen this important relationship for our state.

The SPEAKER: Before we move on, I call to order the members for Hartley, Schubert, Chaffey, Finniss and Flinders. The Deputy Premier.