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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2013-04-30 Daily Xml
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CHINA DELEGATION

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham—Premier, Treasurer, Minister for State Development, Minister for the Public Sector, Minister for the Arts) (14:12): I seek leave to make a second ministerial statement.

Leave granted.

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL: Yesterday, I returned from a week-long trip to China, focussing on the Shandong Province, with stops at Hong Kong and Beijing. Shandong Province has the third largest economy in China, with a population of over 96 million people and a gross state product of over $660 billion. Shandong is outpacing China's rapid growth, expanding at 9.2 per cent, and South Australia is fortunate to have enjoyed a sister-state relationship with Shandong for 27 years.

Despite this trip, we made a strategic decision to place special emphasis on upgrading our longstanding relationship to one that will generate more substantial and long-term benefits for both states. This strategy began with the development of our China Engagement Strategy, which was well received wherever we went in China. The 60-strong delegation that I led, made up of business owners, industry and institutional representatives and government heads of department, was evidence of our commitment to deepen this relationship.

The Shandong government acknowledged this extra effort with a heightened response, including providing their most senior government officials to develop ways of matching their province's needs with what South Australia can offer. For instance, Shandong requires clean energy technologies and natural resources to continue its massive urbanisation and industrialisation and to underpin its rapid development. South Australia has these resources and clean energy expertise in abundance.

Shandong wants to develop its capability in sustainable food production. Our state has a world-class reputation in sustainable food production. In turn, South Australia requires investment and infrastructure to unlock our natural resources. We need partners to buy our produce, technologies to expand our companies and to grow our economy. South Australia is also seeking to expand its tourism flow from China and to bring increasingly higher numbers of international students to our state. In all of these areas South Australia and Shandong share the same aspirations. We have what each other needs to be prosperous into the future.

I first discussed the possibility of establishing a South Australia Shandong Development and Cooperation Forum when I visited Shandong in July 2012. The idea was then further developed when the Vice Governor, Xia Geng, visited Adelaide in September last year. Last week, the South Australian government entered into a memorandum of understanding with the Shandong government, making the South Australia Shandong Development and Cooperation Forum a regular event.

The MOU stipulates that South Australia and Shandong will establish a working group, to be led by the Shandong Foreign Affairs Office and the South Australian Department of the Premier and Cabinet. It will be co-chaired by me and the Acting Governor of Shandong, the Honourable Guo Shuqing, who will soon be formally appointed Governor of the province. This was a significant diplomatic coup and showed that the Shandong government is willing to deepen this long-term relationship.

The MOU provides a framework for greater ongoing engagement and a means to further focus and pursue our mutual priorities in four key areas. Importantly, this includes facilitating contact between South Australia and Shandong businesses interested in investment, trade and other collaborative arrangements. We have already begun building new partnerships, and that is evidenced by a further three MOUs signed during the forum.

The first, between the Adelaide Festival Centre and the Shandong government's Department of Culture, establishes a collaborative program for the 2014 OzAsia Festival. The second, between the Shandong Foreign Affairs Office, the Shandong Film and TV Media Group and AMPCO Films Pty Ltd, will bring together creative and technical talent to collaborate on an international film project, Gold Road. The third marked a joint venture between Basetec Services and Sinoma Jinling to develop the marketing, design, supply, installation and project management of high pressure parts for the global market.

These MOUs, signed at the inaugural Shandong South Australia Development and Cooperation Forum, were complemented by a number of additional agreements formalised during the course of the trip. A memorandum of understanding on tourism cooperation was signed in Hong Kong by the South Australian Minister for Tourism and the Hong Kong Financial Secretary. This agreement involves the provision of eight koalas to Hong Kong's Ocean Park, for which the park will develop a $5 million themed enclosure highlighting South Australia. The park receives over 7 million visitors a year and will be a very helpful addition to South Australia's tourism promotions.

In Shandong's capital city of Jinan, I took part in the official opening of the China-Australia Centre for Health Services, a joint research and education centre between the University of South Australia and Shandong University. The centre is a direct outcome of my previous July trip when discussions between the two universities occurred. Flinders University, a world leader in marine research, also unveiled a joint laboratory with a high technology seaweed processing business headquartered in Qingdao. The Qingdao Great Gather Ocean Seaweed Industry is one of China's national seaweed processing industry R&D subcentres and one of the fastest growing private companies in Qingdao. This cooperative research venture may also provide the basis for commercial developments in South Australia.

Members of the business delegation noted that the government-to-government relationship on this trip fast-tracked their ability to make business-to-business connections and pursue quicker outcomes. What could have taken five to six trips over several years was facilitated through one trip. This was partly due to a concerted effort to match prospective Chinese investors and clients with the right South Australian companies and projects. It was also due to the calibre of clients that the Chinese government included in the cooperation and development forum and investment seminar, both held during the trip. High calibre Chinese organisations interested particularly in resources, energy and agribusiness connections were well represented.

The ties that have been built through our sister-state relationship over the past 27 years have offered a good foundation to grow this relationship. These positive outcomes came with a clear indication from Shandong that our presence in their province mattered. A second trip in less than a year and the strength of our delegation created a shift that brought heightened interest both in the relationship and in further investment, trade, business, education and cultural collaborations. This is a connection worth ongoing effort.

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