Media release
Australian Minister for Trade, Mark Vaile
23 May 2000
MTV55/2000
Australia cottons on to growth in China market
The Australian cotton industry is pursuing major new export opportunities in China this week as part of one of the biggest Ministerial-led business missions to visit the country in many years.
Speaking in Beijing today, the Minister for Trade, Mr Mark Vaile, said ongoing reform of the local textile industry and China's pending accession to the World Trade Organisation had the potential to significantly increase Australian cotton sales.
"I think the Australian cotton industry is very well positioned to build on its current A$23 million-a-year export trade with China and to reinforce its long-standing reputation as a reliable and competitive supplier of top-quality product," he said.
Mr Vaile is visiting several centres in China and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region with 74 senior Australian business people representing a wide range of industries, including sporting services, construction, mining, insurance and banking.
Members of the Australian Cotton Industry Mission to China include the Twynam Agricultural Group, the Oakville Pastoral Company, Queensland Cotton, Cotton Australia and the Australian Cotton Shippers' Association.
The group will hold high-level meetings with government and industry officials in order to promote direct links between Australian exporters and Chinese mills, and to better understand China's new import requirements in the light of industry reform.
It will also visit the key cotton processing regions of Wuxi and Nanjing in Jiangsu Province.
One of Austrade's Trade Commissioners in Beijing, Elizabeth Sullivan, said reform of China's textile industry would improve the commercial viability of local enterprises and increase demand for higher quality textile products.
"The recent formation of China's National Cotton Exchange -- which allows buyers and sellers to trade according to market demand -- is just one sign that genuine reform is taking place here, " she said.