Austrade has partnered with the NSW Government to deliver one of the largest business missions from Guangdong Province ever to visit Australia.
A delegation of more than 130 members, drawn from key sectors of the Guangdong economy, landed in Sydney last week and was led by Mr Zhang Hu, Vice Governor Guangdong Province.
Coordinated by NSW Treasury in partnership with the Australian Trade and Investment Commission (Austrade), the delegation met with a large number of NSW businesses, government and industry organisations.
This year New South Wales and Guangdong Province celebrate the 40th anniversary of the establishment of the sister state/province relationship, the first such agreement China signed with a foreign country.
The Agreement sets down a commitment to establishing greater economic and commercial collaboration as well as other areas of focus agreed by both parties. Improving people-to-people exchange, innovation and research and development are also important priorities.
Every two years, a Joint Economic Meeting (JEM) is held to develop planning and facilitate commercial cooperation in designated priority sectors. Following the last JEM in Guangdong, this year's event in Sydney brought together industry leaders and businesses from the financial services, health, agribusiness and smart cities sectors.
Guangdong is one of China's most developed economies. It has consistently had the highest GDP of any province in China for 30 years. Guangdong's GDP is close to that of Korea and greater than Australia's. A whopping quarter of all of China's exports are shipped through its ports.
Shenzhen, a city known globally for its contribution to innovation, smart manufacturing, hardware technology development and entrepreneurship is located in Guangdong Province.
Some of China's most famous global brands and corporates call Shenzhen home including Huawei, Tencent, BYD, Ping An Insurance and China Merchants Bank.
The comprehensive business program including a plenary session, roundtables and site visits gave businesses the opportunity to network and discuss commercial collaboration and investment.
