Residents in Hainan buy Australian beef on Monday. Photo: CNSphoto

 

Photo: GT

The zero-tariff fresh Australian beef is proving popular with consumers in South China's Hainan free trade zone, displaying China's determination to pursue opening-up policy. Yet the outlook for Australian beef exports to China is dimmer, due to an all-time low in bilateral relations, experts said.

A total of 1,785 zero-tariff live cattle imported from Australia arrived in Hainan Province, with imported beef going on sale in Carrefour and other supermarkets at the weekend. 

Wang Bo, a manager at Carrefour's store in Hongchenghu in Haikou, capital of Hainan, told the Global Times Monday that Australian beef is liked by local consumers and the current supply falls short of demand.

He estimated the next shipment would arrive about a month later. "Affordability is the main factor driving higher consumption," said Wang.

Sold at around 40 yuan ($5.7) per jin (half kilogram), the zero-tariff Australian beef is affordable to ordinary Hainan residents, he added.

The move shows China's determination in further opening up its markets, Yu Lei, chief researcher at the Research Center for Pacific Island Countries at Liaocheng University, told the Global Times Monday. "China is leading the global trend of free trade," said Yu.

However, industry watchers said if Australian politicians continue to harp an anti-China narrative, bilateral trade and investment will meet more obstacles. China is Australia's largest trading partner.

According to a survey posted on China's Twitter-like Weibo which asked if people would buy Australian beef, 3,460 out of 5,230 respondents chose the option "No" while only 925 picked "Yes". 

In the past few months, from Huawei's 5G equipment, COVID-19 health crisis to Hong Kong, Australia has closely followed the steps of the US government in imposing pressure on China, which seriously soured bilateral relations. 

Even if some voices have emerged in Australia to reduce its reliance on Chinese market for its export-oriented economy, the position that China has in Australia's trade cannot be replaced based on the two countries' high complementarities in economy, and "their trade should have huge potential to be developed," Yu said.