City of Sydney hosts inaugural China Business Summit 2008

22 February 2008

The City of Sydney has affirmed its commitment to supporting business links with China by joining the Australia China Business Council.

The inaugural City of Sydney China Business Summit 2008 has attracted business and government delegates to discuss Sydney's position as the gateway for global business.

"We are the entry point into the Australian economy for international business and are seeing evidence of that as Chinese financial institutions base their regional headquarters in Sydney," said Lord Mayor Clover Moore MP.

"Just last year, two major Chinese and International banks (the China Construction Bank and the people's Bank of China) established offices in Sydney.  These businesses want to be part of China's trade with the Sydney metropolitan area, estimated at around $10 billion a year."

The China Business Summit is a first for the City of Sydney, creating a platform to exchange business opportunities and build strong networks. The Summit is an extension of the City of Sydney's hugely successful Chinese New Year celebrations, which are now the biggest celebration of Chinese New Year outside of Asia.

The focus of the China Business Summit 2008 is Looking Beyond the Resources Boom and at the growing business opportunities in the finance and business services sectors.

"While we've recently seen enormous media focus on the resources boom in terms of Australia-China relations, Australia - and Sydney in particular - has much to offer that goes well beyond that inevitably finite boom," said Ms Moore.

"This summit can only help us all in promoting Sydney as a major hub for business services - a recognition already implicitly acknowledged by Chinese financial sector companies choosing Sydney for their regional headquarters."

People of Chinese ancestry make up about 6 per cent of the Sydney metropolitan population and nearly 10 per cent of the City's population, and Chinese is now the most common language spoken at home after English.

"To take full advantage of the business opportunities between Sydney and China and to maintain Sydney's global city status in the face of fierce national and regional competition, we must forge new links between the City, governments at other levels and the business community," Ms Moore said.

"It's important that we engage with China if we are to deal with pressing world issues relating to the global economy, climate change and sustainability."

The Summit also highlights some of the business opportunities which the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and the Shanghai 2010 World Expo will provide for Australian companies.

Media Contact:       Leanne Lincoln (02) 9265 9910 or 0434 320 768