(Yicai) Nov. 6 -- A record number of Australian companies are attending this year’s China International Import Expo because of restored relations between China and Australia.

More than 250 Australian firms participated in the sixth CIIE, Yicai learned from Austrade, Australia’s international trade promotion, investment, and visitor attraction agency. At the CIIE, there is an Australian pavilion at the Food and Agriculture Pavilion, as well as other separate exhibition halls for Australia’s Queensland and Victoria states.

Many small and medium Australian firms in fields such as food, beverages, and healthcare hope that Chinese consumers can learn more about their products at the CIIE and that they can expand their sales channels in China via e-commerce platforms.

“The cornerstone of the China-Australia relation is economy and trade,” Chen Hong, head of the Australian Studies Center at East China Normal University, told Yicai. “Trade between the two countries in agricultural and mineral products, primary products, and the service sector has been very active, and transactions have been record-breaking.”

Chen is optimistic about the cooperation prospects between the two countries in clean energy besides traditional trade in iron ore and agricultural products.

Australia has sufficient sunlight and rich wind energy and lithium ores, but local companies have inadequate capacity to produce and maintain clean energy equipment, Chen added, noting that Tesla’s electric vehicles exported to Australia are very expensive. These two factors together provide new opportunities for the partnership between China and Australia, he explained.

“The Australian government has set up a net zero carbon emissions goal, so Australian companies are looking forward to further cooperating with China in clean energy,” Chen said.

A highlight in the China-Australia trade is that lithium ores overtook liquefied natural gas to become Australia’s second most exported commodity to China this year, according to official data. Exports of lithium ores from Australia to China reached a record-high of AUD11.7 billion (USD7.6 billion) in the first half of the year, compared with AUD470 million (USD306.3 million) two years earlier.

Moreover, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is in China. He attended the CIIE opening ceremony yesterday and will participate in other events.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Futura Costaglione