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TOWNSHIP AND VILLAGE ENTERPRISES SEMINAR WUHAN MUNICIPALITY, HUBEI PROVINCE, CHINA 15 April 2002 Michael C. H. Jones,
President, ACCCI |
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Let me begin by thanking the
sponsors and organisers of this Seminar, it is a very timely initiative in
the context of China’s recent admission to the World Trade Organisation, WTO. Let me also thank the TVE CCPIT
Hubei Province for their hospitality and encouragement to participate on
behalf of the Australia China Chamber of Commerce and Industry of New South
Wales. I want today to develop a number
of themes, which will give you a “whole-istic” view of: v
Australia/China economic relations v
New South Wales/Hubei Province connections v
Sydney/Wuhan partnership prospects v
SME/TVE business opportunities These themes include: v
Australia as part of the Anglo-Saxon World v
China opened up to the world v
International Corporations and good governance,
duty of care and business ethics v
Urbanisation and Rural Industries v SMEs, including TVEs, as the basis for employment in a Global Society |
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Cornelius is my father’s family
name – it is over 2000 years old and comes from the Romano-Britons who
withdrew to Wales before the ravages of the Jutes and Angles, invading tribes
from Germany in the 5th century. His
family were Welsh and Scots. Hetherington is my mother’s
family name – it is part of a direct line of history that goes back to William
the Conqueror when in 1066 my relative, Baron de Rufus, carried the spears
for the Duke of Normandy when he successfully invaded England. Her family
were English and Scots. My family has witnessed the
overthrow of many Kings and the execution of many Nobles, the defeat of many
rebellions and the slaughter of many peasants. We participated as political leaders, military commanders,
religious proselytisers and business entrepreneurs. The Scottish Taipans were my
relatives. Indeed 150 years ago my
British ancestors chased your Chinese ancestors up the Yangtze River beyond
Wuhan to Chongqing, Chengdu and places beyond. Again, just over 50 years ago your relatives chased my
relatives down the Yangtze River to Shanghai and out into the East China Sea
– although I must say that a few cousins remained as advisors to the British
in Hong Kong and the Americans in Taiwan Province, Korea and Vietnam. The Anglo-Saxon Club of the
18th, 19th and 20th centuries, arising from the Empire of Great Britain and
then transferring to the victorious Yankees of post Civil War America, has in
the 21st century become the Anglo-Saxon World. The language, culture, values and aspirations of young and old
all around the world are Anglo-Saxon – that is English and North American. It is the same in China, no
matter how unacceptable or unpalatable to some, not all, that reality may be. So how do those of us who are
unhappy with this global situation resist it and change it for the better and
not the worse. The understandable cultural
hostilities and resentments to past injustices of very large sections of the
Arab regions and communities to the Anglo-Saxon domination or hegemony, will
not find profitable and permanent satisfaction through international terrorism
and anarchy. That is an agenda for
the end of civilization, as we all know it. In my view there are two ways to
overcome the Anglo-Saxon domination of the world – the Chinese way from
without and the Australian way from within. The Chinese way since December
1978 has been to open up and join the Anglo-Saxon world – the seat at the
United Nations, the signing of the Human Rights Covenants and the admission
to the World Trade Organisation, WTO, are all examples of China accepting the
leadership of the English speaking world and North America. But China is betting on its 5000
years of cultural history, its huge population representing 20 per cent of
mankind, and the diplomacy, industry and social stability of its people to
maintain not only independence but also add its own flavour to the new global
society of the 21st century. China is still and will remain
for many decades a predominantly agricultural society with an overwhelmingly
rural population; it is continental and not coastal in personality. The growth of democratic processes both
within and without the Chinese Communist Party will accentuate this thinking
in the deliberations of the National People’s Congress and the People’s
Political Consultative Conference. On the other hand the Australian
way is Irish, Scottish and Welsh – just as these small regions and
communities resisted and preserved their cultures for up to a 1000 years
against the overwhelming power of the English out of London, so some
Australians are determined to maintain control of our Australian Continent
and future and to move beyond the shadow of both our English history and
current North American hegemony. Just as the growth of the
European Community has helped make the smaller nationalities free, witness
the blossoming of independence in so many areas including Ireland, Scotland
and Wales, so the regionalism of an ASEAN + 3, and the Asia Pacific Economic
Cooperation, APEC, as well as the economic globalism of the WTO, will enable
Australians to overcome their historical racist fears of invasion and hence
pretended superiority as spiritual handmaidens to England and the United
States. Always remember, and this is why
I shared my family history with you, the people resident in England and the
United States do not have a mortgage on Anglo-Saxon heritage. We in Australia, my family, share
ownership of that heritage and our spiritual freedom from North American
hegemony will come as the multicultural diversity which is my country,
including the hundreds of thousands of Chinese migrants since the Gold Rushes
of the 1850s, brings the confidence to deal with the USA, EC, ASEAN, PRC and
Indian Republic on an equal footing. Australia has been for over one
hundred years an overwhelmingly urban society with a coastal or maritime
personality. Our thinking has alternated between free trade with the British
nations of the world and economic protectionism based on ideas of
self-sufficiency and ethnic security.
It is only since the late 1960s that our horizons have ventured beyond
Empire and the Anglo-Saxon Club to Asia generally and China in particular. |
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I wish to touch on just three
aspects of these issues – globalism, social stability and information. As I have already said China
reacts to globalism, in the sense of the Anglo-Saxon world, from the outside
– from rejection and isolation, whereas Australia struggles from the inside,
as a people who have been culturally smothered and denied spiritual air. China, the rural and continental
society with a massive population, opening up in all areas
simultaneously. Both its
international and intra-provincial boundaries are being dramatically and
irretrievably erased by traditional historical Chinese standards. There is nothing in the world today that
is not known in China and being experimented with in one way or another,
legally and illegally, with and without the sanction of State and the
Communist Party of China. In the year of the horse, some
think it poetic justice that an entirely new bread has been genetically
engineered by the Chinese Government such that it may be impossible to ride
by any in the future leadership ranks of the Communist Party. Yet what is the alternative? In my view, for reasons of
social stability, it has become more important today for the Communist Party
of China to be in the forefront of State leadership because the only immediate
alternative would be the military.
However, the People’s Liberation Army, even with its historic
closeness to the rural population of China especially, is not equipped
intellectually or by training for government. The educational and training
levels of mid-ranking and senior officials of the CPC must be given priority
particularly in philosophical and ethical matters, certainly as the doors of
membership are opened up to business people who by experience are more
inclined to short term economic considerations. Ironically this decision will
speed up the democratisation pace at all levels of government as citizens,
urban and rural, become dismayed by business excesses in China and elsewhere.
Finally, the concept of
information. You cannot send tens of thousands of government officials,
hundreds of thousands of students, millions of businessmen and ultimately
tens of millions of tourists overseas without learning the best and worst
that the world has to offer. Information and ideas go hand in hand as I am
sure the leaders of China fully understand. The trends to corporatisation,
privatisation, decentralisation and private responsibility are global and can
only be mitigated in their worst features by the CPC. Again it is ironic that the social cement
of family, community and rural lifestyle will be what holds China together
before the flood of information alternatives presented to the youth of all
countries. I often worry about what there
is in the Australian cultural mix that will hold our country together, and
whether or not we are strong enough to assert our individuality beyond a pale
imitation of other peoples as portrayed by Hollywood. |
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The “iron rice bowl” is gone.
The farm “collectives” are gone, or at least they have to operate in a
totally different way and under far more severe competitive pressures. The world has changed – your centre of
reference is no longer the village or the town, not even the county or
district. In some cases it is beyond
the city and the province. The WTO means China is open, or
at least will be virtually completely open in 15/20 years time. Your livelihood, your business,
your family, your community, your town and village are open to the
world. You can in a sense go anywhere
with your business ideas and expertise but everywhere can come to you with
theirs. This is both exhilarating and
frightening. Two sets of statistics come to
mind. Firstly, that over half of
China’s current international trade is already conducted by foreign owned
enterprises, predominantly major international corporations from the USA, EC
and Japan. Secondly, that only just over
half of China’s present economic activity is conducted by state-owned
enterprises (SOEs), allegedly the most inefficient and indebted sector of
business. What do these figures really
mean? It means that if US President
George Bush listens to his Republican “hawks” and puts the economic squeeze
on China, the business corporations might refuse and fund the Democrats in
the next Presidential Election. On
the other hand if they were to agree with President Bush then China
economically is in a very big mess.
Of course US corporations would also loose a lot of money. It also means that either the
efficiency and profitability of SOEs have to be dramatically improved, and
thereby arresting the privatisation process, or otherwise more and more
control of Chinese economic activity will pass to foreign owned corporations
with their command of the strategic aspects of both domestic and
international trade. Can township and village
enterprises, which are predominantly SMEs – that is small and medium sized
businesses, survive and prosper in this economic environment dominated either
by inefficient and huge SOEs or by foreign controlled global corporations
with little allegiance to rural and agricultural China? In this context the TVEs must
quickly become interested and expert in the concepts of political good
governance, professional duty of care and business ethics. Political “good governance” is
about the role of governments at central, provincial and municipal levels and
the institutions associated with them such as the National People’s Congress
and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference. What legislative processes and
administrative procedures are currently in place to prevent rampant
corruption and irresponsible management of the SOEs? How can small and medium sized businesses
be sure that there is truly a level playing field, or in Australian terms
equal opportunity and “a fair go” for all? Professional “duty of care”
concerns the obligations of qualified professional lawyers and accountants
and others to do their job to a recognised standard accepted as the norm by
their peers. It is about certifying
to the general public that the decisions and activities of companies,
particularly mayor corporations with potentially massive economic and commercial
power over the market, are according to law as set down by governments from
time to time. The recent shameful
events in the United States, Australia as well as in China highlights the
fact that even some of the most reputable auditing companies in the world
were very poorly managed and not doing their jobs at all. Hundreds of thousands of ordinary people,
if not millions, lost their investments due to criminal negligence. Business ethics is related to
internal company standards of behaviour, which recognises that the free or
socialist market is not a licence for collusion and extortion through
“insider” trading and “conflict of interest” situations. The external relations of companies
especially with members of government and the public service must always be
at arms length to prevent corruption, whilst the internal procedures must be
of such a nature that discrimination on the basis of race, religion, sex and
so on is limited to the greatest degree possible. Favouritism is favouritism whatever the rationalisation and it
does not lead to efficient and profitable business. It just leads to very
poor management. In a recent speech to the Asia
Media Centre in Sydney on the topic “ Business Networking in the Asia Pacific
Region” I stated and I quote: How can companies, big and
small, undertake their business with the guarantee of a “level playing field”
which is another way of saying “an equal opportunity”? That is the single most important question
for any collective government decision making in the Asia Pacific Region. That
question is the question that unites SMEs all over the world. |
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In my home city, Sydney, which
is over four million in population and the financial and commercial capital
of both Australia and New Zealand, there is no mayor for the entire
municipality, rather there are over 40 independent mayors controlled by the
state or provincial government of New South Wales. The population for the
rest of the state is barely 2 million people and most of them reside in urban
centres, the rural component is very small. The Chinese situation of
municipalities such as Beijing, Tianjin and Shanghai being on the level of
states or provinces is unheard of in our history. Similarly that urban-based city
officials would be responsible for significant rural populations and
agricultural industries is very foreign to our thinking and experience. For example let me briefly comment on
Chongqing. In 1997, Chongqing was
restructured as a municipality that is equal to a province. The new governmental authority contains a
population of 30 million people and encloses a region with a distance approximately
equivalent to that from Sydney to Griffith in an east-west direction, and
from Batemans Bay to Taree in a north-south direction. This municipality contains cities, towns
and rural areas. Within the city
administration there are 1,502 towns and township offices and approximately
24 million rural inhabitants or about 80 per cent. This 20/80 percent ratio between
urban and rural areas requires a delicate balancing of the development needs
of both sectors, urban industrialisation and rural agriculture. One important aspect of any development
strategy has to be the management of substantial rural to urban migration
wherein already almost 20 per cent of the urban population is considered a
“floating population” requiring urgent improvements in urban services such as
water supply and wastewater treatment. Wuhan, on the other hand is at
the opposite end of the municipality scale compared to Chongqing. Depending on the figures read, it has an
urban population of about four million and a rural population of up to three
and a half million. The municipality
is an amalgamation in 1950 of three cities that became Districts – Hankou,
Hanyang and Wuchang. Nevertheless,
again, the city’s unitary authority and substantial rural/agricultural
responsibility marks it out from Australian cities. China has 668 official cities,
and that number continues to grow as county level towns become reclassified
as cities. I am advised that China has about 19,000 established towns with an
average population of 8000. China’s current Five Year Plan
(2001-2005) projects a 1-percentage point increase per annum in the
urbanisation rate (the proportion of the population living in urban
areas). This means that more rural
villages will become reclassified as towns and more towns will be
reclassified as cities. That means about 87 million more people living in
urban areas. China’s urbanisation strategy,
as stated in the current Five Year Plan, places emphasis on the following: v
Constructing and developing new cities. This is particularly relevant to China’s
vast central and western regions where the urban density is reasonably
low. It will allow greater attention
to be placed on new urban development, rather than on urban renewal. It is also consistent with the desire of
the central government to reduce the regional disparities in income and
wealth. v
Accelerating and developing small towns. This will focus on a small number of
existing with good infrastructure and generally good potential to enable them
to grow into medium sized cities. v
Designing and guiding areas with a high density of
towns. The Pearl River Delta and the
Yangtze River Delta are the main focal points for high-density living, a high
level of industrialisation, a large number of relatively high-density towns,
and close economic links between the towns.
The major task is a combination of urban expansion and urban renewal
that will allow those urban areas to absorb a large population in an
effective and efficient manner. v
Upgrading cities as regional centres. This is sometimes referred to as
“constellation plan” for urban development, through which regional cities are
developed in conjunction with outlying areas (smaller cities and towns) in
such a way that they function collectively. v
Developing international metropolises. Efforts will be made during the next 20
years to enable cities such as Beijing and Shanghai to become internationally
competitive and to be classified as “global cities”. What does This urbanisation
strategy mean for rural industries in the various regions of China? By rural industries my Chamber
would mean: v
agriculture v
aquaculture, including fisheries and processing v
livestock and animal husbandry v
forestry and timber industries v
mining and energy production And also the TVEs, township and
village enterprises, which are in the main SMEs – small to medium sized
enterprises. It means that there is an
orderly response to the critical challenge of rural unemployment. At the end of 2000 China had
about 480 million rural workers, of whom some 328 million were engaged in
agricultural production. However
according to the Ministry of Agriculture, China had a surplus in rural
labourers of around 100 million and this situation was becoming even more
serious in the major grain, cotton and oil producing areas. The number of surplus rural labourers is
expected to increase by about 8 million a year for at least the next five
years. In addition it has been
predicted by Mr Xue Liang, Director of the Ministry of Agriculture’s
Development Planning Department, that China’s joining the WTO will lead to 20
million fewer job vacancies for the nation’s farmers. It is commonly agreed that to
meet this problem there needs to be a more speedy structural reform of rural
employment, and adjustment through two processes: v
Firstly, through labour intensive industries such
as animal breeding and aquaculture and v Secondly, through the promotion and construction of small towns and
cities, making them “reservoirs” for the creation of job opportunities for
surplus rural labourers. |
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In China, according to the
Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and I agree the figures are a little
dated but they were the best I could obtain at short notice, by the end of
1994 there were 8.57 million registered companies in China of which only
20,000 were classified as large or medium sized concerns. In other words 99 per cent were small
enterprises. Again, in the industrial sector,
large medium and small businesses accounted for 1.11 per cent, 3.27 per cent
and 95.625 respectively, among 465,239 units with independent accounting
systems. SMEs have been the major
providers of job opportunities whether in urban areas absorbing 75 per cent
of industrial labour, or in the rural areas where the TVEs have provided jobs
for 100 million peasants or half of the whole rural surplus labour force. Mr Liu Zengsheng, Director of
the Ministry of Agriculture’s Township Enterprise Management Bureau, is
reported as stating late last year that 20.8 million TVEs employed 128
million rural residents in both industrial and non-industrial activities and
this generated a combined export value of $US113.2 billion Obviously one avenue for
increased rural employment opportunities lies in giving more and more TVEs
the power to engage in the export trade.
Only 10,000 had that right at end of 2000. But the growth of TVEs faces the
“bottleneck” or logjam of lack of access to funds such as bank loans unlike
the SOEs. Again one possible way
around the problem is for TVEs to start to tap into the overseas finance
market by launching or engaging in more joint ventures outside China. By the end of 2000 Chinese TVEs had only
invested about $US1.98 billion overseas to run 1886 businesses abroad. It is my view, and the view of
the Australia China Chamber of Commerce and Industry of New South Wales, that
“the establishment of strong and lasting economic linkages between
non-government organisations in Australia and China” will be achieved in the
sector of small to medium sized enterprises including township and village
enterprises in the rural areas of China. Every possible encouragement and
support should be given to their export potential and formation of
partnerships with appropriate international enterprises. Employment prospects and the people’s
livelihood is dependent on it. At this point it might be
interesting to refer to the World Bank, and in particular its resident
economist in China, Mr Deepak Bhattasali, who clarifies the definition of
SMEs. He gives two definitions. v
the level of fixed assets – small industry is up to
$1.8 million in book value of fixed assets v
the number of employees – small enterprises are
between 10 and 50 employees Mr Bhattasali goes on to say
that in China, on the basis of the industrial census, the average size for: v
small enterprises is 15 employees v
medium sized enterprises is 893 employees v
large enterprises is 3755 employees He contends that the SME sector
is large and growing and may be the dominant sector already. Moreover a large percentage of SMEs are
non-industrial firms, that is either service sector firms or rural based
firms and not urban firms. Mr Bhattasali asserts that “if
these firms are not allowed to purchase, produce and market their product
especially for import and export, then you have a major obstacle to SME
development”. Thus in his view all
regulatory obstacles to incorporation and competition should be removed. The major objective should be
economic growth for stability. But there are two problems. Firstly, conversion from
entrepreneurship, which is what creates a firm, to management, which is a
professional skill – whether v
strategic management – managing entry into new
markets, v
functional management – financial, inventory,
production, or v
technical management – how to run a production line All three are required for the
development of SMEs into viable enterprises providing permanent jobs. Secondly, management requires
people who run businesses to know: v
purchasing, production, sales, v
costing, and v
financial accounting and reporting that comply with
government laws and regulations Finally
there needs to be proper access to finance but direct finance is not good as
it creates non-sustainable employment, and a bad business and financial
culture within the enterprises.
Indirect finance through intermediaries is desirable, so the
longer-term objective should be to introduce more sources of equity finance. |
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v
Australia/China economic relations v
New South Wales/Hubei Province connections v
Sydney/Wuhan partnership prospects v SME/TVE business opportunities |
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ACCCI has over recent years
promoted the concept of an Australia China Trade Treaty, which would be some
form of International Economic Cooperative Agreement between both governments
for our countries to pool complimentary resources in the Asia Pacific. In many respects the
China-Australia Joint Working Group on Transport, which is a bilateral MOU
signed by the Australian Minister for Transport and Regional Services in
April 2001, is an embryo form of such an agreement and the Chamber is
supporting its activities and working as closely as possible as you will read
on our Website at www.accci.com.au. For your information the
memoranda of understanding were signed with the following Chinese central
government agencies: v
The State Development and Planning Commission
(SPDC), covering all aspects of transport, regional development and trade
facilitation; v
The Ministry of Communications (MOC), covering
highways and waterway transport; v
The Ministry of Railways MOR); and v
The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC),
this MOU is specific to cooperation in air safety and accident investigation. The Australian Federal
Department of Transport and Regional Services’ objectives for the MOUs are
to: v
Facilitate trade in transport goods and services,
including those from regional Australia; v
Facilitate trade through improved transport links,
logistics and supply chain efficiencies and through skills transfer; and v
Promote positive government-to-government relations
as part of the broader Australia-China bilateral relationship, including
promoting our multilateral agenda. The four agencies mentioned
above will participate in the Joint Working Group (JWG) together with the
Chinese Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation (MOFTEC), the
Ministry of Public Security (MPS), and the Australian Department of Transport
and Regional Services. The JWG will serve as the coordination point for the
implementation of the MOUs. The Chinese agencies agreed to
include Chinese and Australian industry in the JWG. This provides Australian firms with an interest in the Chinese
transport and logistics market with the opportunity to explore issues that
affect their operations and aspirations in the market. The inaugural JWG meeting was
held in Beijing, China over three days between 3rd and 5th April. ACCCI was one of only two Australian
non-government organisations to have Official Observer Status, together with
the Victorian Employers’ Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Chamber was
represented by our Chief Representative, Beijing, Mr Lin Kun who was the
former Head of the Economic and Commercial Section of the Consulate General
of the People’s Republic of China in Sydney. To assist Mr Kun, ACCCI held a
workshop on urban services in China on Thursday 28th March, and devoted a
substantial part of the proceedings to a discussion of transport and
distribution in China with recommendations on matters related to some of the
agenda topics of the JWG, namely on: v
transport logistics in an integrated setting; v
transport technology v
trade facilitation for transport goods and
services. You will not receive a medal for
understanding how all this relates to Hubei Province, China |
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In the Key Cities Index you will
read our material on Hubei and see that Chamber has selected 8 from 25 cities
on which to concentrate. Those are: v
Wuhan, Huangshi and Erzhou in the Eastern
Industrial Region with leading industries including metallurgical,
engineering, textiles, chemical and building materials. v
Yichang, Jingzhou, and Jingmen in the Western
Industrial Region with industries including electric power, oil, chemical,
and light industries. v
Xiangfan and Shiyan in Northern Industrial Base
including the industries of motor vehicles, electronics and light industry. In the section on the recent
Sister City Forum held on 12th March, organised and sponsored by ACCCI together
with the NSW Local Government and Shires Association (LGSA) and the Australia
Sister City Association (ASCA), you will read about the experiences of some
50/60 Australian and New Zealand cities with Chinese cities including Chinese
Taipei. From memory there are no Hubei Province cities on the list, but there
should be. Over the next few years Chamber
will seek to assist our 8 special cities to enter Sister City Relationships
with the appropriate Australian and New Zealand cities. This will in part be
achieved by an in-depth analysis of four key sectors of the respective cities
in both regions, namely: Urban Services: v
Urban design, real estate and property v
International trade services v
Finance, insurance and business services v
Communications, transport and local storage v
Government services such as public administration,
health and social welfare v
Wholesale and retail services v
Entertainment and recreational services v
General manufacturing services Rural Industries: v
Township and village enterprises v
Agriculture v
Aquaculture, including fisheries and processing v
Livestock and animal husbandry v
Forestry and timber industries v
Mining and energy production Infrastructure: v
Urban and rural water supply and reticulation v
Wastewater treatment v
Solid waste disposal v
Pollution control v
Gas supply, especially transmission and
distribution v
Electricity supply, including generation,
transmission and distribution v
Telecommunications in their totality v
Air transport systems v
Sea transport systems v
Rail transport systems v
Road transport systems Commercial Culture: v
Education/intellectual v
Tourism v
Media v
Venue and facility design v
Visual arts v
Performing arts v
Professional sports v
Recreational sports v
Associated industries |
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In addition an MOU was signed
between the Hubei Foreign Service Corporation and the Australia Education and
Business Training Centre, witnessed by both the Australian ACCCI President
and the Hubei CCPIT President, to establish the Office for the ACCCI CCCC
Headquarters in Wuhan as a priority activity. For your understanding the
Australia China Chamber of Commerce and Industry of New South Wales (ACCCI)
was established in Sydney on 16th September 1976 to operate all over
Australasia and China including Hong Kong, then under British Administration,
and Taiwan Province, recognised as such by the Australian Government when
officially recognising the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the only
legitimate authority in China in December 1972. The first Hubei Province
delegations were received by Chamber in Sydney in about 1982 and I am advised
that there were 17 meetings during the mid 1980s up to June 1989 concerning
the possibility of a Sister City Relationship between Wuhan and Newcastle, a
major city to the north of Sydney.
These negotiations collapsed with the events of 1989 and the
subsequent trade sanctions placed on China by the USA and other Western
Governments including Australia. However by the end of 1990
Chamber was again receiving delegations from Hubei and Wuhan. Then in 1992, at the direction of the then
Governor of Hubei Province and in his presence at the Mitchell Galleries of
the State Library of New South Wales in Sydney, I signed on behalf of ACCCI
our first official Cooperative Agreement with your province. Subsequently in 1994 ACCCI publicly
announced that it wished to form a special relationship with Wuhan
Municipality, and in 1997 signed a second cooperative agreement with the city
– the signer on the Chinese side was the current Chairman of the Hubei CCPIT. My point is simply that Sydney
and Wuhan have had a long and thoughtful partnership over 20 years. I do not wish to discuss
business relations between companies in both cities and provinces in too much
depth, as firstly these should always be commercial in confidence and
secondly because you Chinese keep much more accurate statistics then we
Australians. But I would urge you to follow
the comments on these opportunities on our Internet site. Thank
you. |
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Introduction to the
Chamber’s Key Cities Strategy Urbanisation in China, with
“case study” information about: China’s Pearl River Delta, with
annexes on: China’s Classification of
Cities and Towns Links to external Web sites about
China’s cities (includes Shanghai and Ningbo) |
