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Related documents: Position paper on Sister State and
Sister City Relations Between Australia and China Chamber letter to Sister City News Information about cities
and provinces in China. |
MAKING SISTER CITY RELATIONS WORK FOR THE ECONOMIC 12 March 2002 Sponsoring organisations: Local Government and
Shires Associations NSW (LGSA) Australian Sister
Cities Association (ASCA) Australia China
Chamber of Commerce and Industry of New South Wales (ACCCI) |
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ACCCI
Key City Strategy and Programme in China 2002/2004
Introduction From my quite lengthy remarks in
the earlier session this afternoon you will understand that Chamber has had
both successes and failures in China over the last 25 years since its
foundation on 16th September 1976. Indeed the very establishment of
ACCCI, after the formal recognition by the Whitlam Labor Government of the
People’s Republic of China as the sole legitimate authority in China,
effective from December 1972, can be viewed as a struggle between those
wishing a centralised operation out of Canberra and those believing in a
business based decentralised structure out of Sydney, the financial and
commercial capital of Australia and New Zealand. There is a continuing
philosophical contest in Australia between ACCCI and other organisations with
agendas Chamber believes to be too heavily influenced by the competing
political parties in their campaigns for control of federal government, large
overseas professional legal and accounting bodies and major corporate groups
in mining, banking and media, just to mention a few. I repeat again, Chamber is a
non-government, non-profit, voluntary association of business organisations
and persons working to strengthen and deepen non-government economic linkages
between Australia and China. Purpose From the Australian and New
Zealand perspective this essentially means SME, small to medium sized
business, linkages. The role of Chamber as an alternative to the influence of
political parties, national professional bodies and international
corporations, all of which have potentially massive economic power, remains a
very worthwhile function in the facilitation of small and medium enterprises
entering the China markets. For SME success there needs to
be a “level playing field” or equal opportunity in international business
across national boundaries and regions, and that is why Chamber has concerned
itself with both the global issues of the WTO, APEC and the various Human
Rights Covenants, and also the legislative necessities of political good
governance, professional duty of care and corporate ethical behaviour. The ACCCI Key City Strategy
encompasses all of these considerations and more. It is about: v
playing a small role in the opening up to the world
of the Chinese civilisation, over 20 per cent of the human race, a policy
launched in December 1978 by the Government of the PRC; v
helping to spread the economic benefits and
opportunities of this global integration throughout all the great cities,
large and small, of China in a way, which maintains social stability; and v
assisting Australia’s, and New Zealand’s,
penetration of the vastly different markets of China – akin to all of Europe
between Gibraltar and the Russian Urals – in a way which enriches and
celebrates our unique cultural heritage and place in this new global society
of the 21st century. History As always there is a history to
these things, and history must be understood if the same mistakes are not to
be made over and over again – the invention of square wheels is I think
almost legendary in Australia and perhaps New Zealand. Therefore a little ACCCI
history: v
1974/76 – the separation from the Canberra
centrists with the establishment of ACCCI in New South Wales; v
1978/82 – the establishment by ACCCI (NSW) of
Chambers in all States from Victoria in 1978 to Western Australia in 1982 –
as well as assistance for New Zealand; v
1979/85 – the contest to control ACCCI nationally
between NSW companies and the “Melbourne lawyers and their allies” ending
with their expulsion/departure and the establishment of the rival ACCCI LTD
in Canberra; v
1985/91 – the years of the takeover battles, legal
actions and unification negotiations ending with the ACCCI of New South Wales
deciding to implement its own city based China strategies; v
1991/96 – the struggle for the recognition of the
Chinese Central, Provincial and Municipal Governments, and the Australian
Federal and NSW Governments, ending in the collapse of ACCCI Ltd in Canberra
and its takeover by the ACBC (Australia China Business Council); and v
1996/2001 – the build up of ACCCI experience and
expertise through the signing of ultimately 43 Co-operative Agreements with
key Chinese cities at the official levels of Chief Trade Representative,
appropriate Deputy Mayor and Party Secretary and ending with the decision to
launch the ACCCI Website on 14th September 2001 and to concentrate on 200
Chinese cities and 100 Australian and New Zealand cities. Strategy In outlining and discussing the
Chamber strategy and programme I ask you to keep in mind this history. The key city strategy is not static, it
has evolved over time and will continue to do so in the future. The programme is subject to cultural,
economic and political influences and events not only in China and Australia
but also in the Asia Pacific region and globally. As a general principle ACCCI has
attempted to keep the political influences of Canberra, Sydney and Wellington
in Australasia, and Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hong Kong and Taipei in
China, at arms length. There are many
reasons for this policy too numerous to explain at this forum. Each of these cities has been treated in a
special way, which I will briefly touch upon in a few minutes. But first I want to give you an
overview of the line of march for the next few years – say 2002/2004. ACCCI as you know has four front
line committees – Trade Policy, Commercial, Public Affairs and Cultural –
reporting to the two Vice Presidents.
It also has three functional committees reporting to the President –
National Liaison, China Liaison and Financial. In dealing with a country/region
such as China your organisational structure is vital – a truly make or break
factor in success. From the beginning
just as Chamber wanted the Australian base to be Sydney and the NZ base out
of Auckland, in China the decision was to by-pass the major coastal cities
for Continental China and in particular Wuhan in Hubei Province, Central
China, because of its strategic logistical position and cultural heritage as
a leading city of modern China. Wuhan Headquarters From about 1982 Chamber received
many delegations from Hubei Province.
Indeed some 17 meetings took place to facilitate a Sister City
Relationship between Newcastle and Wuhan , which ended in failure with the
events of June 1989, and Australian trade sanctions. Nevertheless the 1980s experience
toughened the ACCCI resolve, and meetings with Hubei resumed by the end of
1990. Indeed the first official
co-operative agreement signed by me on behalf of ACCCI was in the presence
of, and at the direction of, the Governor of Hubei Province at a ceremony in
the Mitchell Galleries, State Library of New South Wales, in 1992. In September 1994, together with
current Vice President Marilyn Walker, I publically announced that ACCCI
would seek to develop a special relationship with Wuhan City. That decision was then pursued
relentlessly until the formal launch of the ACCCI CCCC (Central
Communications Centre in China) in Wuhan on Australia Day, 26th January 2002.
It has taken almost 20 years for
Chamber, against all the objections and despite all the difficulties, to
achieve this city based strategy objective.
I hope it does not take another 20 years before I can be present in
Wuhan when the Chamber officially opens, at another Australia Day Ceremony,
the ACCCI Plaza incorporating the offices of our national CCC Headquarters
for China. Regional Communications Centres
(RCCs) Again, as you can note from the
Key Cities page on this Internet site, Chamber has divided China into seven
(7) zones or groups of provinces and cities.
It is anticipated that by the end of 2002 there will be functioning
Australian Educational and Business Training Centres acting as Regional
Communication Centres for Chamber in: Changchun (North East), There may even be an eighth RCC
for the Sub-border Zone provinces of Yunnan and Guangxi Autonomous Region –
perhaps Nanning as Austrade already has an office in Kunming, and Chamber
policy has always been to avoid the doubling up of limited Australian
resources. Each of these RCCs would
obviously be responsible for the provinces in the Zone, and more importantly
the 200 target cities designated on the ACCCI Website which would include
among other things helping existing and future Sister City Relationships with
the 100 Australian and New Zealand cities as explained earlier this
afternoon. City Index Chamber is gradually formulating
a criteria for evaluating Chinese and Australian cities and thereby the
ability to set priorities for commercial activities. The objective is to be able to assess each
city in terms of at least four criteria: Trade – between the Chinese city
and Australia and the companies involved.
It may not be possible to identify trade between an Australian city
and China. Investment – outward investment
from Chinese cities to Australia, and inward investment by Australian
companies to Chinese cities.
Investment strategies and priorities of cities in both countries
should be available. Industry – plans by
Municipalities and major locally based companies should be accessible to
identify both immediate opportunities and growth complementarities with
cities in the other country. Commerce – business
relationships are usually confidential, however a great deal of information
on relevant matters are on the public record through government agencies,
trade associations, universities and media outlets. A pattern of economic
relationship between China and Australia can be built up in this way suitable
for evaluation purposes and deciding priorities among cities and therefore
useful for decision-makers in SMEs Programme There are approximately 665
official cities in China. These are
grouped into about 5/6 categories according to population. They cannot be approached in the same way
for many reasons apart from population and province considerations. This was learnt by Chamber very early in
the 1990s. Hence a “social” perspective was
developed with a strong human rights overlay, namely viewing China according
to the needs of its people and their aspirations for a better life. Chamber
has formulated a programme, which looks at: v
the rapid urbanisation of China and the need for
urban services, v
the rural areas of China and the need for
industries to provide work, v
the economic infrastructure to open up China
domestically and internationally, v
the cultural, recreational and sporting aspirations
of the Chinese people Australian SMEs with clearly appropriate
capabilities are being facilitated to compete for the identified economic
opportunities presented by Chinese cities and their resident business
organisations whether SOEs or private businesses. Each year ACCCI organises four
Workshops to review current trends and hone the strategy and programme of the
Chamber in these four areas of Urban Services, Rural Industries,
Infrastructure and Commercial Culture. Mega-Cities More than 20 years ago Chamber
recognised the special circumstances of cities such as Beijing, Shanghai,
Guangzhou, Hong Kong and Taipei, and that their unique characteristics in
China required tailored approaches. BEIJING Because Beijing is the political
capital of a communist ruled country, it is of overwhelming strategic
importance – much more so then even Washington, USA. The problem is how to deal with this
overwhelming presence. The Australia China Bilateral
Government relationship, and specifically the annual ministerial meetings
held alternatively in Beijing and Canberra, in theory determine the
priorities of the economic relationship.
These priorities on the Australian side are set by the political party
controlling federal government, and are influenced by the major mining
companies, agricultural associations, banking, media and international law
and accounting firms. This strategy in terms of
benefiting SMEs was always destined for failure. Firstly, because governments in
democracies have a bad habit of changing - both the political party and the
ministerial control are usually short term and therefore not good for
planning purposes or institutional memory. Secondly, because the enormous
growth in the Chinese economy over the last 24 years could be anticipated so
that it was well known Australia’s importance to China was a diminishing
factor - therefore the Canberra/Beijing annual meetings may well become a
relative strategic and economic irrelevancy. Thirdly, because major
Australian trading companies have been either Branch Offices or subject to
overseas takeover and hence decisions on China are not made here – note BHP,
TNT, AWA and News Corporation to mention a few. Likewise regular corporate collapse – HIH, Ansett, NSW Grains
Board, Burns Philps and so on – also denies “flagship” potentially similar to
Japanese, USA and EC corporations. Fourthly, because major
international legal and accounting firms are about “intellectual asset
stripping” that is gathering information and reselling it, not providing
facilitation services for small to medium sized Australian trading and
investment firms Thus Chamber had to explore new
ways of relating to Beijing. In May 1995 ACCCI signed a
Co-operative Agreement with the Beijing CCPIT. This was in many respects a
ceremonial relationship as there was no effective way Chamber could meet the
demands of economic opportunities in competition with the major companies of
North America and Europe without substantial Australian Government and
corporate support. It did however
give ACCCI a window into Beijing and its twin city Tianjin. Out of the meetings however came
the realisation of the diversity of Australia China economic relations and
how little was really known in Australia as compared to China. A previous and limited attempt to compile
a definitive paper by the Keating Government in 1992 also pointed in this
direction. Chamber from about late1997
began to promote the idea of some form of Australia China Trade Treaty, which
would provide an umbrella co-operative agreement in which future Chinese
needs, and Australian capabilities could be identified. Subsequently the
Australian Labor Party, in opposition from March 1996, took up the idea of
such a Treaty, which was strongly advocated, by Kim Beazley and Senator Peter
Cook from about 2000. About this time the ACT
Government entered a Canberra Beijing Sister City Relationship, which from
the Chinese perspective is an excellent back door entry to the Federal
Government Bureaucracy and Departments since there are a very small number of
business opportunities for Beijing in
Canberra. This in turn has given Chamber
the incentive to approach the Beijing City co-operation question in a new way
and we are currently talking to several “think tanks” with whom ACCCI has
co-operated over recent years. SHANGHAI Shanghai has a Sister State and
Sister City Relationship with Queensland and Brisbane respectively. The city sought a relationship with Sydney
in the early 1990s but this was declined by the Council of the City of
Sydney, whilst the NSW Government was not interested because of the existing NSW/Guangdong Relationship. Yet Shanghai is likely to become
the financial and commercial capital of East Asia within 50 years, eclipsing
Singapore, Hong Kong and Tokyo as strategic economic centres. The only
credible economic partner in Australasia is Sydney. A number of years ago, Chamber
entered very serious negotiations over a considerable period of time with
Shanghai based public and private organisations to establish a
Sydney/Shanghai Economic Corporation with the purpose of developing
institutional connections between the two cities. The negotiations collapsed due to an inability to agree on both
managerial responsibilities and financial benefits among the potential
shareholders. Nevertheless Chamber still
believes there is an opportunity for a provincial level relationship between
New South Wales as the gateway to Australia and New Zealand, and Greater
Shanghai as the gateway to Central China.
A submission to the NSW Premier’s Department has recently been made on
this “project” and a number of meetings held with the NSW Department of State
and Regional Development (DSRD) concerning inward investment from Shanghai to
Sydney. ACCCI has also spoken to Invest Australia and Invest New Zealand. GUANGZHOU In 1979 Chamber supported the
establishment of the first Australian Chinese Sister State Relationship
between New South Wales and Guangdong Province, and again in 1986 the
Sydney-Guangzhou Sister City Relationship. ACCCI has strongly supported the
annual Ministerial meetings and business seminars and recognises this
economic partnership over more than 20 years as critical for NSW economic
development. It will be interesting
to see whether Guangzhou as the capital of Guangdong Province begins to
assume much of the financial and commercial power of Hong Kong over the next
50 years. From the Chamber perspective
this relationship provides an opportunity for the exploitation of business
opportunities not possible elsewhere in China simply because of the cultural,
social and economic understanding resultant from both the longevity of the
relationship and the historical Cantonese speaking migrant population to
Australia. Unfortunately, as with many
things in Australia, organisations only do half the job – NSW tends to
concentrate on Guangzhou and has only recently focused on the other major
cities in Guangdong Province, and the City of Sydney is really only the CBD
and therefore does not include the other 40 plus councils of Sydney in
Guangzhou activities. Hence Chamber has decided to
establish a non-government Sydney-Guangzhou Sister City Relationship based on
the councils of Greater Sydney (Newcastle/Wollongong/Penrith) and Greater
Guangzhou re the Pearl River Delta. ACCCI is currently seeking the right
organisation to provide the secretariat in both Guangzhou and Sydney. Conclusion I have now been speaking for
quite awhile and apart from chairing the Sister City Forum this is my third
speech today. Therefore I will spare you the details of Chamber’s involvement
with the Hong Kong SAR and Chinese Taipei or Taiwan Province. Simply to say
that the ACCCI brief is all of China and we take that mission very seriously
and are working in a systematic way to improve relations with the great
metropolis of Hong Kong and key cities in Taiwan Province such as Taipei,
Tainan and Kao-hsiung. I urge you to regularly visit
this Website for a progressive update on Chamber strategies and programmes
for individual cities in both China and Australia as they evolve. I hope
this paper, and my previous ones today, have given you food for thought. |
