The recent investment by the Chinese state-owned Wuhan Iron and Steel Company in a South Australian miner has prompted some people to express concerns about China taking over Australia's resources. However, doing business with China and maintining good business relations is important for Australia's economy. Australia has its Foreign Investment Review Board to review overseas investment in Australia while China's National Development Reform Committee performs a similar function for Chinese companies investing abroad. It is anticipated that such mechanisms will protect the interests of both countries when it come to investments. China certainly has money to invest - as its economy becomes further integrated into the global economy, we can expect the level of investment to increase - opportunities for Australia's exporters will also increase. The Chinese economy is expected to achieve a 8.4% growth rate in 2009, revised up from 7.2%. This should be good news for Australia exporters. It seems that relations between Australia and China may now be back on an even keel following the recent tension caused by the Rio Tinto incident.
