Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk will lead a delegation of more than a dozen Queensland companies to what’s been dubbed the Olympics of Trade.
Shanghai will host the first China International Import Expo (CIIE) – a personal priority of Chinese President Xi Jinping – from November 5.
130 countries are participating.
"China is Queensland’s biggest customer," the Premier said.
"Our record exports mean one thing: jobs. And getting more work for more Queenslanders is my first priority."
China accounts for $23.7 billion of Queensland’s record $76.7 billion worth of exports.
China’s spending is up $4.8 billion or 25.9% on the year before.
Excluding coal China is still Queensland’s biggest customer spending $13.8 billion.
The Premier will meet with senior executives of Alibaba. Alibaba is a online retail giant whose sales total more than Ebay and Amazon combined.
The company also has 48 supermarkets.
"The opportunities from that meeting alone are staggering," the Premier said.
"Given access to that platform opens up a whole new world especially for our tourism operators."
Figures just released confirm China as the biggest source of tourists to Queensland with 500,000 visitors spending $1.3 billion.
The Premier will also sign a Memorandum of Understanding for a special exchange featuring one of Queensland’s greatest artistic talents.
In addition to agricultural producers including Kilcoy Global Foods, The Queensland Food Corporation (whose products include Queensland seafood) and Capilano Honey other businesses represented will include pharmaceutical companies Sanofi which has produced a drug used by MS patients and Skin Nutrient which produces skin care products using natural ingredients.
The University of Queensland and James Cook University are also among those represented. UQ alone has 15,400 international students from 141 nations.
The Premier will also make her first official visit to the Republic of Korea, Queensland’s fourth-largest trading partner.
As at August the Republic of Korea bought $8.35 billion worth of Queensland goods.
"I’m excited about visiting South Korea because it opens up avenues to collaborate on renewable energy such as solar and hydrogen, and also on biopharmaceuticals," the Premier said.
Hydrogen is acknowledged as having the potential to be Queensland’s ‘next LNG’.
In Townsville, Korea Zinc has built one of the southern hemisphere’s biggest solar power plants for its Sun Metals refinery.
The Premier will meet with them to explore new opportunities.
