I'm lucky with the work I do I am able to earn serious coin and still able type all day as you put it and no I'm not devolging what it is I do.
and while we're here read this carefully very carefully
China will have to be mindful of which Australian exports they target next if they don't want to hurt their own interestsBy business reporter Gareth HutchensPosted7 hours ago, updated6 hours agoChinese investors own some of Australia's largest agricultural and food manufacturing. companies that export to China.(ABC Landline: Pip Courtney)There have been reports that China is considering escalating its trade war with Australia by targeting more Australian exports.Chinese officials have reportedly drawn up a list of potential goods including dairy, wine, seafood, oatmeal and fruit, that may face stricter quality checks or tariffs if political tensions don't ease.But Beijing will have to be mindful of which Australian-produced goods they target if they don't want to hurt Chinese interests.Coronavirus update: Follow all the latest news in our daily wrap.Why? Because Chinese investors own some of Australia's largest agricultural and food manufacturing companies that export to China.There is no publicly available register in Australia that shows the extent of Chinese investment in Australian-based companies.Calls to the offices of Agriculture Minister David Littleproud and Treasurer Josh Frydenberg proved fruitless.However, Professor Peter Drysdale from the Australian National University has painstakingly compiled some of the investment data by cross-checking figures from sources such as the Foreign Investment Review Board with company reports and news stories.WATCHDuration: 46 seconds46sDavid Littleproud denies there is a trade war with ChinaThe information is available on ANU's Chinese Investment in Australia (CHIIA) database of Mainland Chinese direct commercial investment in Australia.A separate joint project between KPMG and Sydney University helps to further reveal the extent of Chinese outbound direct investment in Australia.Here are some of examples of Chinese investment in Australia's export industries that could face uncertainty in the current trade environment.Kilcoy Pastoral Company controlled by Chinese agribusinessEarlier this month, China suspended imports from four of Australia's largest abattoirs — three in Queensland and one in NSW — on what Chinese authorities said was a "technical issue."Stay up-to-date on the coronavirus outbreakDownload the ABC News app and subscribe to our range of news alerts for the latest on how the pandemic is impacting the worldThe three Queensland meatworks were Kilcoy Pastoral Company, the JBS-owned Beef City, near the Queensland Darling Downs, and Dinmore near Brisbane.The NSW company was the Northern Cooperative Meat Company, in Casino.Interestingly, the Kilcoy Pastoral Company is controlled by one of China's biggest private agribusinesses, New Hope Group.In 2015, Kilcoy became part of Kilcoy Global Foods, an international conglomerate with largely Chinese backing.The news sent shockwaves through Australia's beef industry, given Australia's beef export trade jumped to $2.87 billion last year, from $1.37 billion in 2018.Chinese demand accounted for almost 25 per cent of Australian beef exports last year.WATCHDuration: 1 minute 1 second1m 1sSimon Birmingham says the Australian Government is always open for dialogue with international partnersThere have been suggestions the suspensions placed on the four abattoirs were retribution for Australia's role in calling for an independent review into the origins of, and China's response to, the COVID-19 outbreak.Both Trade Minister Simon Birmingham and Agriculture Minister David Littleproud have denied any suggestion the move is linked to Australia's call for an inquiry."Let me just put into perspective, one of those abattoirs is in fact partially Chinese-owned, so they've imposed this temporary ban on one of their own companies here in Australia," Mr Littleproud said earlier this week."So I think we just need to take a calm look at these and look at them individually and make determinations from that."Dairy industry watching trade crackdown closelyIt's not just the beef industry that is worried. Australia's dairy industry is also watching the trade crackdown.But any moves to expand the trade restrictions to dairy products could impact Chinese-backed Australian exporters.Over the past five years, Greater China (China, Hong Kong, and Macau) has been one of the fastest-growing export markets for Australia's dairy industry.In 2018-19, it accounted for 30 per cent of Australia's dairy exports by volume (worth $1 billion), with Japan in second place with 12 per cent (worth $550 million).China's beef ban is straight from Beijing's punishment playbookThe Morrison Government seems to be betting that all it needs to do is hold its nerve and hold the line when it comes to China's trade threats.Read moreIt is the single-largest export market for a range of Australia's dairy goods: liquid milk, milk powder, butter, even live dairy cows.With Chinese consumers becoming increasingly attracted to Australia's safe and healthy dairy products, Chinese businesses have shown a keen interest in local milk producers and dairy farms.After the 2008 baby formula scandal in China, which left as many as 300,000 infants sick and six dead, Chinese consumers turned to local manufacturers of infant formula, such as A2 and Bellamy's Australia, with sales surging to China through informal "Daigou" shopping channels.And last year, Bellamy's Australia — one of Australia's largest manufacturers of baby formula — was sold to Chinese dairy giant Mengniu for $1.5 billion.Mengniu is part-owned by the Chinese Government's China National Cereals, Oil and Foodstuffs Corporation.Mengniu also recently paid $600 million for Lion's dairy division, which includes brands under licence: Dairy Farmers, Masters and Pura milk; Big M, Dairy Farmers and Pura Classic flavoured milk; Dare and Farmers Union iced coffee; Vitasoy soy milk and coconut milk; and juice brands Daily Juice, The Juice Brothers and Berri; and Yoplait yoghurt.China's latest move straight from its punishment playbookThe Morrison Government seems to be betting that all it needs to do is hold its nerve and hold the line when it comes to China's trade threats, writes Stephen Dziedzic.Read moreIn 2016, Mengniu bought a 79 per cent stake in Burra Foods, one of Victoria's major dairy processors.Also in 2016, then-treasurer Scott Morrison approved the sale of Tasmanian-based dairy business Van Dieman's Land Company (VDL) to Chinese company Moon Lake for $280 million.At the time, Moon Lake outlined a plan to transport fresh milk directly from Tasmania to China on weekly flights, but by June last year no such flights had occurred.Chinese-backed investors own growing stakes in Australia's wine industryAs the Chinese middle class has expanded, its taste for foreign wine has grown.China is now the world's third-largest market for imported wine, behind the United States and Germany.According to the Australian Trade and Investment Commission, Australia is the second-largest wine supplier to China after France.To put that in perspective, in 2019 Chinese wine export pioneer Warren Randall said Australian wine exports had grown from 1 million litres a year in 1997 to more than 150 million litres a year by 2019.Last year, Australian exports of wine to China reached a record $1.25 billion, an increase of 18 per cent in 12 months — almost half of the total value of Australia's $2.89 billion global wine exports.The growth of the wine market has seen Australian industry figures report growing investor interest from China in Australian vineyards.However, as with other industries, there is no publicly available list of the level of Chinese ownership in Australia's wineries.Read more about coronavirus:Why money and modern medicine couldn't save some of the richest countries from coronavirusA look at what recovery looks like in Australia since we began lifting restrictionsIn 2018, China state media reported the country's largest wine producer, Yantai Changyu Pioneer Wine Co, bought an 80 per cent stake in Kilikanoon Estate of Adelaide, for $20.6 million, to help meet Chinese consumers' demand for wine.It said roughly 10 per cent of Kilikanoon's total output was sold to China, but that figure was expected to reach 50 per cent as production increased.By 2018, it was estimated Chinese-backed investors owned up to 10 per cent of South Australia's famous Barossa Valley winemaking region.One of those companies was Chateau Yaldara, bought by businessman Arthur Wang in 2014 for $15.5 million. Mr Wang also owns another Barossa Valley winery, 1847 Wines, which he purchased in 2010.Max's Vineyard was sold in 2018 to a Chinese-backed investor for just over $3 million, while Cimicky Wines sold for $6.6 million.In the same year, one of Australia's biggest wine industry investments in 10 years came from Weilong Wine Grape Company, which raised $120 million through a share placement to build a winery in Mildura, Victoria.Other agribusiness projects with Chinese backing include the 93,000-hectare cotton giant Cubbie Station on the Queensland-NSW border.C
I particularly like the bit re having interests in FMg
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