ChAFTA Gains Pace with “Australia Week" in China

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Momentum continues to grow and surrounds commercial opportunities from the China Australia Free Trade Agreement (ChAFTA) with a major event led by the Australian Trade Commission- Austrade- being held 11-15 April 2016 in China.

Only the second of its kind, Australia Week will be delivered in cities including Hong Kong, Beijing, Chengdu, Hangzhou, Shenyang, Shenzhen, and Guangzhou before all delegates come together in Shanghai. Eight sector-specific programs aimed to assist companies grow their business in international markets have been developed and include agribusiness, financial services, health and aged care, tourism, premium food & beverage and consumer, and international education. 

The mission will be led by the relatively new Minister for Trade and Investment, Hon Steven Ciobo MP, sworn in only in February 2016, and it has been recently announced that Prime Minster Malcolm Turnbull will also travel for the first time to China in April.

The mission is expected to be one of the biggest on record and at Fragomen, we have seen business becoming more engaged in exploring how ChAFTA can help them successfully grow their business.

Of note are the opportunities in services. While four fifths of the Australian economy is in services, only AU$6billion of the AUS$110 billion of goods exported to China in 2013 was in this sector.  The growing middle class in China is cherry ripe for Australian businesses willing and able to take the plunge into China in more diversified sectors beyond resources.  Health and aged care is one example where the growth in affluence of the middle class is expected to lead to increased demand for services in this area.

The Immigration framework to support growth

Immigration and visa compliance are fundamental considerations for businesses considering entry into either Australia or China where it is typical that key personnel are required to establish operations in that new market. Speed to market continues to be a key competitive differentiator, and as such, the importance of practical and commercially based immigration advice to allow you to plan is fundamental.

Two examples of challenges that we are supporting our clients with are:

• Speed to deliver on contracts and establish operations

We find through talking to business that being able to quickly move staff from business visitor activities (which is usually at the exploration stage) to work visas to enable the business to start up and operate in the new market and/or to deliver on contracts is critical. This can be a challenging exercise, particularly where immigration criterion, processes and decision making can be more complex or take longer than what business might assume, and where applications by necessity, take time to prepare, file and be decided on.

• A tougher immigration environment of decision making

In Australia, we have also been seeing practical shifts in the decision making environment, with the Department of Immigration placing more scrutiny on businesses (even where well established overseas) who are looking to enter and establish operations in Australia.  This includes increased scrutiny on the position and its genuine need in the Australian business.

If you are considering Australia or China as your new market, reach out to us to gain the proper advice you need to ensure you have the right people at the right time on the ground to make the most of these new commercial opportunities.  

To find out more about how Fragomen can help, please contact us.

 

澳大利亚周·中国”助力中澳自贸协定

——“澳大利亚周·中国”（4月11-15日）助力中澳自贸协定

澳大利亚贸易委员会（Austrade）主导的“澳大利亚周·中国”将于2016年4月11-15日盛大举行。该活动将切实助力《中华人民共和国政府和澳大利亚政府自由贸易协定》（简称中澳自贸协定），继续拓展两国间的商业机遇。

“澳大利亚周·中国”今年是第二届，代表团将在香港、北京、成都、杭州、沈阳、深圳和广州举办精彩纷呈的活动，最后齐聚上海。“澳大利亚周·中国”打造了涵盖农业、金融服务、健康和老年护理、旅游、高端食品饮料及餐饮、国际教育等八个行业领域的项目，旨在帮助企业提升国际市场上的业务。

2016年2月刚刚宣誓就职的澳大利亚贸易与投资部部长乔志文（Hon Steven Ciobo MP）阁下将携代表团参与各项活动。澳大利亚总理麦肯·腾博（Malcolm Turnbull）最近也宣布将于四月首次访华。

此次代表团有望在人数上再创新高。根据费戈曼的观察，许多企业纷纷表示想进一步了解中澳自贸协定可以如何帮助他们发展壮大。

值得注意的机遇出现在服务领域。服务业占了澳大利亚经济的五分之四，然而2013年澳洲出口中国的价值1100亿澳元的商品中，只有60亿澳元来自服务业。对于来自不同行业（不仅是资源领域）、希望并能够进入中国市场的澳洲企业而言，中国不断壮大的中产阶级着实散发着迷人的诱惑力。以健康和老年护理为例，中产阶级财富的增长将会带动该领域服务需求的增加。

促进发展的出入境事务框架

在新市场建立公司离不开关键人员的募集，因此企业在考虑进入澳洲或中国时，必须首先考虑出入境和签证合规问题。鉴于产品进入市场的速度仍旧是一个重要的竞争优势，获得切合实际的商业化出入境建议以便进行企业规划，这对企业而言非常重要。

以下两个例子展示了我们如何帮助客户应对这方面的挑战：

• 迅速履行合同并建立公司

通过与企业沟通，我们发现重点在于能为从事商务访客活动（一般处于市场探索阶段）的人员快速办理工作签证，实现在新市场的公司建立和运营以及/或者合同履行。这可能会很有挑战性，特别是出入境事务的标准、流程和决策可能会把情况复杂化，或者花费的时间超出企业的预估，企业不得不花费时间准备申请、递交申请和等待审批。

• 出入境事务的决策环境更为严格

如果您考虑将澳洲或中国作为公司的新市场，请联系我们获取恰当建议，确保您在适当的时候雇佣适当的人员，充分运用崭新的商业机遇。 

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