Australia in "prime position" to benefit from growing Chinese middle class: business council

Australian businesses are in "prime position" to capitalize on the Chinese appetite for Australian products, according to the Australia-China Business Council (ACBC).

Former Victorian Premier John Brumby, who is president of the ACBC, said that despite a slight downturn in China's economic growth, other factors such as the removal of tariffs and the growth of China's middle class will work in favor of Australian businesses.

"China specialists estimate that by 2030, 326 million new Chinese people will join the middle class," Brumby said in a media release on Friday.

"Consumption will lift from comprising a 36 percent share of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2014 to 50 percent in 2030. As China shifts towards a consumption-based economy we are in a prime position to capitalize on an insatiable appetite for Australian goods and services in China."

"The removal of tariffs, coupled with the rise of the middle class and new consumerism in China means that there has never been such an opportune time for Australians to do business in China."

Brumby's affirmation comes in the wake of Swisse Wellness CEO, Radek Sali, urging Australian businesses to tap into a new "golden age" of trade with China.

Sali revealed at an Australia Business Forum Australia-China Business Week event on Wednesday that the Chinese market accounted for half his company's total sales despite only launching in Shanghai in July.

"This is a very exciting time for Australian companies that think China," Sali said. Endit