Editor’s Note: Daryl Guppy is an international expert in financial technical analysis. He has provided weekly analysis of the Shanghai Index for Mainland China media for more than a decade. Guppy appears regularly on CNBC Asia and is known as “The Chart Man”. He is a member of the National Board of Directors of the Australian China Business Council. The article reflects the views of the author and not necessarily those of the CGTN.

Many Australian political leaders have spent 2021 in open and growing belligerence towards China. They were apparently oblivious to the damage to trade and the economy. “Diversify yourself,” they told exporters, as if it was as easy as flipping a switch.

Companies that in some cases had spent decades developing in China were just victims of irrelevant collateral damage in this anti-China narrative designed to meet the needs of domestic politics. Some analysts suggest it was also designed to distract from the Australian government’s early failure to roll out vaccinations, which resulted in lockdowns lasting for months.

It was the high price of iron ore that supported the Australian economy, and that was largely due to Chinese demand, although Australian politicians carefully avoided mentioning this fact.

Australian businesses and trade organizations were for many months simply stunned by this relentless political attack on the country’s largest trading partner. They kept a low profile, refraining from entering the discussion in the hope that the political leadership would come back to them, but it was unsuccessful.

The inability to speak out early in this policy shift provides a salutary lesson for business organizations in other countries where anti-China rhetoric, sometimes driven by foreign influence, is taking hold. If ignored, the ill-informed policy response can quickly accelerate and become more difficult to reverse.

The Australia-China Business Council (ACBC) and the Australian Business Council’s Global Engagement Committee have decided that companies must take the lead in keeping Australia-China relations on a secure footing. Together with the Chinese Chamber of International Commerce (CCOIC) in Beijing, they organized a virtual trade roundtable in December between senior leaders of the two countries.

The forum focused on the mining, energy and resources sectors and explored emerging roles and opportunities for Australian and Chinese companies in the face of the challenge of climate change.

The speakers and panelists were Australian business leaders. They included CEOs of ANZ Banking Group and CEOs of three Australian energy and resource companies, including Woodside, Fortescue Future Industries, Rio Tinto and the head of external relations of mining company BHP.

ACBC National President David Olsson said the roundtable was “a welcome reminder of the long-term importance of Australia’s trade relationship with China and that the global climate challenge could be the issue that allows us to find a new way forward “.

Warwick Smith, head of the Business Council’s Global Engagement Committee and key roundtable organizer, described the talks – which are taking place despite years of Australian politicians’ inability to get their phone calls back to China – as “very successful ”.

Speakers underlined the natural economic complementarities between the two sides and signaled their strong commitment to continued cooperation. They highlighted many existing successful projects and partnerships as proof that at the business level, the relationship between Australia and China has remained strong. The conference made it clear that three years after the political freeze, companies on both sides were not considering relinquishing their commitment.

Reflecting the positive sentiment shared during the discussions, Meg O’Neill, CEO of Woodside Energy, said, “Companies in Australia and China have a unique opportunity to leverage existing long-term relationships to work together to raise the bar. challenge of reducing emissions while allowing growth. This roundtable was an important step in connecting companies that share the desire to collaborate to advance this opportunity. “

High-tech companies play a vital role in preserving channels of communication when diplomacy has failed. This meeting represents a first step in a coordinated effort to maintain relations as it shows a business voice united in concern over the damage caused by poor policy choices.

Poorly chosen words and brutal diplomacy on the part of political leaders can destroy decades of hard work. The Australian experience has shown that corporate silence is not an effective response. Waiting for a return to common sense only increases the level of damage and the time it takes to reestablish good relations. These types of meetings show the important role professional organizations play in restoring damaged relationships for short-term political ends.

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