NAB: Top Tips for Australian Businesses to Succeed in China

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Reviewed Article: NAB: Top tips for Australian businesses to succeed in China by RIA
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Over the years, China has emerged as a key trading partner for Australia. China is the
largest market for Australia’s exports, with reports indicating that China accounted for one-third
of Australia’s total exports. Recently, the two nations signed a landmark Free trade Agreement
which further cemented the longstanding trade ties between the two countries. Consequently, the
new trade deal creates exciting business opportunities for both Australian and Chinese
companies. However, despite the promise for an expanded market, Australian companies will
need to be both patient and strategic if they are to exploit these new opportunities. The
companies will need to adopt a long-term strategy regarding the Chinese market.
So, how will Australian SMEs achieve success in the Chinese market? First, as NAB
China’s General manager, Danny Armstrong, advises, they need to review the Chinese
Federation’s five-year plan. In this way, they can identify potential opportunities and incentive
areas provided by these government policies. Secondly, the SMEs will need to adopt a longterm
and strategic perspective of the Chinese market. Thirdly, the SMEs should consider creating both
offshore and onshore partnerships with Chinese companies. The Australian education sector has
reaped considerable benefits from such a strategy, and therefore, the SMEs could also benefit
from the same. Another tip is that the SMEs should consider making an entry in China’s second-
tier cities. The observation is that these cities are experiencing significant growth and could
provide the perfect platform for product testing. Lastly, and most importantly, the SMEs should
engage Chinese business advisors. These advisors possess critical market knowledge and thus,
will help the SMEs navigate the market.

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Article’s relevance to International Business and Asia pacific Business Perspectives
This article well articulates a key feature of international business which is trade
agreements between economies. In this instance, the article reports on a free trade bilateral
agreement between China and Australia. The trade deal abolishes tariffs and trade barriers
between the two nations, thus enabling businesses to trade in the two countries easily.
Also, the two nations are vital members of the Asia Pacific region and the APEC.
Preferential trade agreements have been a key trend across the Asia Pacific region (Aggarwal &
Urata, 2013). As the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific. (2016) Points,
by 2016, there were about 169 preferential trade agreements carried out within and across the
Asia Pacific region. Therefore, it can be noted free trade bilateral agreement between China and
Australia mirrors this trend. Thus, the two Asia Pacific members are working together to create
more market opportunities amongst themselves.
Additionally, the article illustrates the importance of international business. International
business offers an expanded market for firms and nations for their products (Djajadikerta &
Zhang, 2015). In this instance, Australian companies have a unique opportunity of increasing
their ventures to China and exploiting the growing Chinese market. Consequently, the revenue of
the businesses will grow and most importantly, more employment opportunities will be created.
Socio-political issues
A key sociopolitical issue in current Australia is the slowed economic growth. As Letts
(2019) points, economic growth in Australia has hit a decade-low, expanding by only 1.4%.
Consequently, household income has reduced due to weak wages, thus leading to a vulnerable