In the aftermath of the commodities boom, Australian exports to China are now becoming more diverse. There is strong growth in the export of services such as education and tourism, and growing Chinese investment in Australian real estate, infrastructure and different types of businesses. Growth in tourism has been particularly strong. Visitor arrivals from China hit 1 million per year for the first time in 2015, on the back of 19% annual growth between 2010 and 2015.
By undertaking a targeted survey of Chinese residents who have visited Australia in the past three years, L.E.K. Consulting has found that 46% of Chinese visitors to Australia are repeat visitors. A significant proportion of visitors—20% of our survey sample—already say they have Australian permanent residence (PR), even though they live in China. This group has an especially high propensity to participate in education in Australia, and to invest in real estate and businesses. A large proportion of all Chinese visitors say that they “probably” or “definitely” will pursue deeper economic engagement with Australia through either tertiary education (64%), real-estate investment (43%) or business investment (38%).
Given that Chinese tourism numbers are expected to continue to grow strongly, projections see at least 2 million Chinese visitors to Australia each year by 2025. If even a small proportion of the visitors who say they will pursue deeper economic engagement in Australia follow through on their intentions, it will be worth many tens or even hundreds of billions of dollars to the Australian economy over time.
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