China remains a key factor in Australia’s economy

Article Excerpt

The overall relationship between China and Australia has grown considerably over the years to the mutual benefit of both countries. As China’s economy developed rapidly, it needed large quantities of natural resources for its infrastructure development and manufacturing expansion. Australia was a ready supplier. This relationship was given a further boost when the two countries signed a free trade agreement in November 2014. China is the largest destination for Australian exports, taking 36% of all exported goods, up from just 5% in 2001. Iron ore, coal, natural gas, food, and precious metals are some of the largest categories. Since the early 2010s, China has also become the largest market for Australian service exports (although with the money spent in Australia) . Education and tourism are the two main categories of service exports to China. Education services provided to students from China were worth about AU$12 billion ($11.3 million Cdn.) Students from China grew five-fold to 250,000 over the past 15 years. The University of…