According to the latest research report released by the University of Technology Sydney in Australia, Australia has continued to decouple trade from China in the past two years, and the economic losses have been huge. But Australia's ally, the United States, has benefited a lot. Australian scholars call on the federal government to recognize the current strategic mistakes and face up to the Australian-Chinese trade issue.
On December 1, the Institute of Australia-China Relations at the University of Technology Sydney, Australia, released a new survey study. The report pointed out that at present, Australia is still following the Trump era's trade decoupling strategy with China, which is wrong, which seriously damages Australia's economic interests.
Australia's exports to China fell by US$12.6 billion from the 2019-2021 financial year, while the US increased by US$4.5 billion over the same period, according to the research data. The report also pointed out that Australia lost part of the Chinese market after following the United States, but let the United States occupy it.
Dr. Luo Zhen, a professor of economics at the Australian-Chinese Institute of Technology at the University of Technology Sydney and one of the main authors of the study, said in an interview with the Phoenix reporter that economic data proved that Australia blindly followed the United States in the political and economic confrontation with China, but the consequences were borne by Australia alone.
Luo Zhen:
"We often hear Australian commentators say that the United States stands shoulder to shoulder with Australia. But my data shows that the U.S. is the very country that has taken away Australia's market share in China, and more than any other country. Australia is effectively bearing the loss alone.
Now, we may have decided to define these as valuable losses, and that's fine, but let's stop pretending that Australia's costs and losses in the Chinese market are shared with our allies. They don't share it, they manage themselves. ”
In the interview, Professor Luo Zhen believes that the Australian government is currently seriously ignoring economic issues and sees China, the largest trading partner, as a military threat in the region. The error in the national strategic direction taken by the Australian Government is indeed very worrying.
"As for the Australian government's reaction, unfortunately, I have a more pessimistic attitude. I've heard more from the Australian prime minister, especially the defence minister, that China is seen only as a matter of political differences, of military strategy, but any economic issue has been marginalized. ”
The survey report of the Australia-China Relations Institute also fully shows that Australia should pay more attention to whether its national interests will be damaged when it closely follows the foreign policy direction of the United States. Some commentators believe that in the face of the new world situation, the future trade between countries will also be more closely related to politics. A good political environment will also lead to smooth economic and trade development.
Source: Phoenix TV Yang Haiying, Liu Ranyang Reported by Sydney
Editor: Erya Wang