James Laurenceson

   

release time：2017-03-09 17:41:50  view count：59144  source：Boao Forum for Asia

Deputy Director Australia-China Relations Institute (ACRI) University of Technology Sydney, Australia

Professor  James  Laurenceson is Deputy Director  of the Australia-China Relations Institute at University of Technology Sydney. He has previously held appointments at the University of Queensland (Australia), Shandong University (China) and Shimonoseki City University (Japan). He was President of the Chinese Economics Society of Australia from 2012-2014.

His academic research has been published in leading scholarly journals including China Economic Review and China Economic Journal. Professor Laurenceson also provides regular commentary on contemporary developments in China’s  economy and the Australia-China economic relationship. His opinion  pieces have appeared in Australian Financial Review, The Australian, Sydney Morning Herald, South China Morning Post, amongst many others.

 

Presentation: The 21st Century Maritime  Silk Road: the View from Australia

This presentation begins by documenting dramatic falls in bilateral tariff rates between China and ASEAN/ Australia over the past two decades. In stark contrast, other trade costs, including transportation  costs and non- tariff barriers, show no such declining trend. This is, in  essence,  the economic case for the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road and explains why the initiative has attracted broad regional support. Australia was not part of the original official maps for the Maritime Silk Road initiative. This changed in 2016 when during a visit to China by Australian Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, Chinese President Xi Jinping proposed the alignment of China’s One Belt One Road with the Australian Government’s Developing Northern Australian Strategy. This was again emphasised and enthusiastically endorsed by China's Foreign Minister, Wang Yi at the Australia-China Foreign and Strategic Dialogue in Canberra last month. Australia's Minister for Foreign Affairs, Julie Bishop also noted the two initiatives shared a common focus on the need to improve infrastructure. This presentation concludes by highlighting examples of investments in Australia’s north that Chinese companies have nominated as coming under the umbrella of the Maritime Silk Road initiative.