Australian businesses leave CIIE with plans to return

Wattle's greatest achievement at CIIE has been showing the vertically integrated supply chain of pure Australian Organic Milk, ensuring a safe and premium-quality product for the health and well-being of their customers, from the "cow all the way to the consumers' cup", as Verry puts it. The company has met a great many potential business partners at the event, he added.

Bringing over 30 brands to the CIIE, Australia Post has put in a great deal of effort to promote e-commerce both in and out of China. They have established a joint-venture company with China Post to develop logistics infrastructure.

"The company sees China as a massive market for both exporting products into China and also import into Australia to a degree with e-commerce, so from a logistic perspective it is very important for us to help Australian brands get into China," said Ian Arnold, director of International Business Development and International Services at Australia Post.

"CIIE is an extraordinary event and the Australian Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment Simon Birmingham was able to attend this year and support all the Australian businesses who have been taking part. All in all, there was a very large presence from Australia," said Dominic Trindade, consul general at the Australian Consulate General.

The most impressive thing for him was seeing just how many Australian businesses were in Shanghai and their diversity in size, ranging from large to small and medium-sized businesses.

"Australian businesses have always been part of the global trading system, and China should be congratulated for supporting the global trading system through hosting an informal meeting of WTO members here. That was an important part of Minister Birmingham's visit, to take part in some discussions around the WTO and how we as members can support the institution and further develop the international trading system, the rules and norms, the WTO represents," Trindade said.

Trindade also emphasized the importance of globalization and spoke highly of China's support for the multilateral trading system the WTO represents, as well as the support of so many countries. He said the world needs to have rules and systems to make trade fair, and protectionism will not make business sustainable. CIIE is a good platform, he added, and Australian businesses are enthusiastic about attending in the future.