Australia is the heaviest China-dependent economy in the world. Exports to China account for 33% of total exports. China is also Australia’s largest two-way trading partner with total trade reaching US $ 163 billion in 2019.
After the May study, economists assessed that Australia really needed to set up a plan to promote the development of its own supply chain to limit over-reliance on China, increasing the ability of sovereignty of China. yourself.
These studies are likely to be used for Australian government policies, following the supply chain crisis when China was at its peak in February.
The evidence submitted emphasizes that Australia has become too dependent on China as a result of its government’s push to capitalize on the world’s second-largest economy.
"The research results show that Australia wants to reconcile with China, but wants a partial economic dissociation," said expert Alan Dupont, CEO of consulting firm The Cognoscenti Group.
Mr. Dupont also said that Australia’s economic escape "was not an attempt to isolate China, but rather to establish a sustainable relationship" between China and the US as the world was gradually divided in two. independent trade and geopolitical bloc.
According to Dupont, Australia could stay in a trade bloc with China and a security bloc with the US, but there is a growing possibility that Australia must choose its own side. If Canberra is on Washington’s side, bilateral free trade agreements with Beijing and other countries will not take effect.
In a hearing last June, the Australian Institute of Pharmaceutical Technology confirmed that the Covid-19 pandemic indicated that it needed to be self-sufficient in sourcing pharmaceuticals, rather than relying on China.
Investigations show that Australia is very passive about the supply of pharmaceuticals and fuels when it comes to importing up to 90% of these items, according to the Institute of General Economic Research.
After the outbreak of Covid-19, the Australian Government called for an independent investigation into the origin and spread of the new strain of corona virus from Wuhan (Hubei province). Subsequently, China retaliated by banning the import of Australian beef and increasing taxes on many of its products.
