Simon Crean, Australian Trade Minister, delivers a speech at the launching ceremony of Australian Unlimited, a national image promoting event in Shanghai on May 20, 2010. [Photo: CRIENGLISH.com/Yang Yang]
By Yang Yang
Australia seeks to expand trade opportunities, especially in the low-carbon sector with Chinese companies. Australian Trade Minister, Simon Crean, made the remark at the launching ceremony of Australian Unlimited, a national image promoting event, on Thursday in Shanghai.
Crean thinks the 2010 Shanghai Expo will be one of the largest and most successful Expos in history. He is deeply impressed by the enormous business opportunities it provides.
He is also attracted to the low-carbon elements of the Expo as displayed through the building of the pavilions and their innovations.
"The other thing that strikes me heavily regarding the construction of all the pavilions is the emphasis on sustainability with a green future, as well as on the youth, and meeting the challenges they face. We need to focus much attention on (it)."
As a matter of fact, Crean's recent visit to China is not merely for the Shanghai Expo. He also went to Beijing and different regions of China to understand the diversity of those regions and look for commercial opportunities moving forward.
"On this visit I've been to Tianjin, Qingdao, Jinan. The opportunities in all of these cities are enormous, particularly in the services sector, in financial services, and in the educational and vocational services as well. And more importantly there's progress in the green development of the urban areas within the cities."
Crean noticed all of the cities and provinces he has visited are under pressure to reduce the carbon footprint in terms of jobs being on the line. One of his goals is to strengthen the Australian relationship in many ways to help with these challenges.
Crean said Australia has signed MoUs with four different provinces to date and will sign a MoU with east China's Shandong province this week. They have also signed city MoUs, targeting particular sectors and areas of interest.
Simon Crean, Australian Trade Minister, presents the launching ceremony of Australian Unlimited, a national image promoting event, in Shanghai on May 20, 2010. [Photo: CRIENGLISH.com/Yang Yang]
