Quoted in the Media: South China Morning Post on China emerging from coronavirus

I was quoted by South China Morning Post journalist Su-Lin Tan in her story on China's economic rebound after the coronavirus. The article was entitled "Coronavirus: desperate overseas firms turn to China as lockdowns hit home."

The story was primarily about companies around the world that have been unable to continue various projects due to lockdowns in their own countries outsourcing work to companies in China. The change comes as China emerges from its own lockdown and is trying to kick start the economy. Companies looking to outsource from China in these times are primarily in the business services sector and include management, architecture, and marketing consultancies. These companies are primarily composed of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs).

At another level reported by Tan are the foreigners who live in China and who own businesses there but who have not been able to return to the country since it stopped allowing foreigners from entering the country last week, including those with work and business visas. The majority of affected companies are also SMEs and primarily in the services sector. They have been reaching out to foreigners who did not leave in China to assist them by taking oversight of their operations.

I was quoted on the recent increase in interest by Australian companies looking to commence exports to China just as the Australian economy slowsdown following our own Covid19 lockdown:

In a stronger signal of companies looking for opportunities, Australian international trade consultant Alistair Nicholas said he had seen a spike in interest among Australian food manufacturers and agriculture exporters about new opportunities in China in recent weeks.

“Some of them have noted a drop in sales domestically since restrictions were placed on Chinese tourists coming into Australia … and are now looking at exporting those products to China because they can’t afford to wait for the tourists to return,” he said.

“Other Australian companies are just looking for new markets as they brace themselves for a slowing of the Australian economy because of our response to the coronavirus.”

In an effort to sustain exports to China and other Asian countries, last week, the Australian government spent A$110 million (US$66 million) on chartered flights to distribute locally produced seafood, meat, dairy as well as fruit and vegetables, with the flights then returning with medical supplies.

The story makes for an interesting read.