Australia-China Youth Association

Developing communication and negotiation skills among delegates, Day 2 of the 17th Australia-China Emerging Leaders Summit featured an interactive workshop: a Mock Strategic Economic Dialogue. Within this workshop, facing various hypothetical future scenarios such as Australia's introduction of new FDI restrictions and tariffs against China and Chinese-made goods were designed, and with delegates required to explore the ramifications of these changes for both economic and non-economic perspectives and to communicate their respective positions to one another as a group; placing themselves into the role of spokesperson for either the government of Australia or China. Also, following the exploration and communication, delegates were also encouraged to consider the various 'asks' and 'offers'; the potential for both sides to make compromises from their existing positions to facilitate a mutually beneficial agreement. #ACELS17 #auschina #acya

On the second day of the 17th Australia-China Emerging Leaders Summit, ACYA was delighted to host for delegates a fireside chat with Emeritus Professor Colin Mackerras AO FAHA; on personal reflections from 60 years of China engagement. Interlaced with his personal story, Professor Mackerras observed the development of China, the differences in internationalisation between China's young people of the 1960s and today, and the divergences in values and ideas between China and the Western world; the overcoming of which to facilitate cross-cultural understanding argued to be premised on immersion and experience. On Australia's China capacity, Professor Mackerras also remarked of deficiencies in Australia's study of China and its analyses of China affairs, and that notwithstanding existing challenges, there remains a necessity to retain a more nuanced, balanced understanding of China accounting for both positive and negative sides. #ACELS17 #auschina #acya

Following the geopolitics panel, on the second day of the 17th Australia-China Emerging Leaders Summit, delegates heard from Mr Alex Sun (Partner, PwC ESG Workforce) and Mr Michael Wang (Founding Partner, Fishburners China), on Australia-China cooperation in green development; the panel moderated by ACYA's Lorraine Luo. Among the many aspects of discussion included the complementarities between Australia and China that make them the perfect partners in the transition towards renewable energy, the role of both the public and private sectors in bringing the transition into place, and the influence of multilateral institutions in facilitating green development. Further, the current prospects of green development and their future trajectories were also explored; the idea of green development understood via current projections, risks, and opportunities. #ACELS17 #auschina #acya

The second day of the 17th Australia-China Emerging Leaders Summit, on July 6, began with a Geopolitics and Diplomacy Panel: “Avoiding the Thucydides Trap: Australia-China-United States Relations”, with panellists Professor Shen Dingli (Professor Emeritus of Fudan University) and Professor James Laurenceson (Director of the Australia-China Relations Institute, University of Technology Sydney). Among the issues discussed from both Chinese and Australian perspectives were the different responsibilities of the three nations towards the trilateral relationship, the divergent perceptions of the three nations on aspects of geopolitical security, and the idea of 'deterrence' - explored through both a conceptual lens and their differing implementations by the United States during the terms of President Trump and President Biden. #ACELS17 #auschina #acya

At the careers workshop as part of the schedule of the 17th Australia-China Emerging Leaders Summit, moderated by Mr. Michael Milne (Executive Director, University of Sydney China Centre), delegates heard from Ms. Mia Castagnone (Business Reporter, South China Morning Post), Shailene Wei (China Manager, ACYA), and Wendy (Wanlin) W. (Shanghai Desk Liaison Manager, ANU China Centre). Speaking from their personal stories and experiences, panellists held a dialogue on a variety of career-related questions: from differences between Australia and China on building a career and challenges, navigating different cultural environments to navigating the workplace, to the key areas of attention for applying to jobs and building networks and relationships. Across the workshop, panellists not only discussed their observations on these areas, but also their experiences mitigating relevant challenges. The workshop concluded with a discussion on the anecdotal generational differences in workplace culture, and the changing attitudes of the younger, incoming generation compared to the attitudes of the managers of existing firms. #ACELS17 #auschina #acya

At the second panel of the day, delegates at the 17th Australia-China Emerging Leaders Summit heard from Ms. Natalie Lowe (Founding Partner, The Orangeblowfish), Mr. Ryan Molloy (CEO, RedFern Digital), and Ms. Stephanie Sam (Strategic Communications Specialist at International Chambers of Commerce in China). Exploring connections between culture and business, panellists first overviewed the misconceptions in understandings and distortions in perception between Australia and China, before discussing the differences between the cultures relating to business and marketing and its impacts to firms' market expansion strategies. The diverging firm and consumer market behaviours were also discussed. Navigating these differences, which necessitates a change in firm practices to adapt to cultural differences, organisational- and individual-level responses were discussed; the necessity of acting creatively with a clear sense of goals and intentions were explained. The importance of people to people connections, as a key part of bridging business and cultural differences, was also emphasised before the panel discussion concluded with questions and answered. #ACELS17 #auschina #acya

For the first panel discussion of the day, delegates at the Australia-China Emerging Leaders Summit heard from Mr. Michael Milne (Executive Director, University of Sydney China Centre), Ms. Nancy YU (Director, Australian National University China Centre), and Ms. Stephanie Smith (Australian Trade and Investment Commissioner, Greater China). The topic of discussion for panellists were the two-way academic exchanges between Australia and China; panellists presented a diversity of views commenting on the ongoing education collaborations between Australia and China, factors affecting Australia's understanding of China and China literacy and student exchanges, and also ways to improve education and research opportunities. Panellists also shared their experiences and the benefits of studying in China. Answering questions from delegates, panellists also discussed anecdotal and empirical differences between the Australian and Chinese education systems and the positioning of universities and the education sector amidst broader geopolitical tensions. #ACELS17 #auschina #acya

At the 17th Australia-China Emerging Leaders Summit, delegates heard from Mr. Xiao Qian, China's Ambassador to Australia. Mr. Xiao provided context for the Australia-China relationship, that last year was a year of progress and improvements, with a variety of official meetings and visits - on the Australian side, by Prime Minister Mr. Anthony Albanese and Foreign Minister Ms. Penny Wong, and on the Chinese side, by Premier Mr. Li Qiang and Foreign Minister Mr. Wang Yi. Mr. Xiao overviewed the positive complementarities between Australia and China and the longstanding cooperation between both sides. For delegates of ACELS 17, Mr. Xiao also expressed his hopes and aspirations for everyone to adopt an objective view of Australia-China relations, carry out practical cooperation to jointly promote development and transformation, learn from each other and promote people to people exchanges, and to jointly address challenges and improve international governance. Concluding his remarks, Mr. Xiao noted that the youth of the present holds the key to the future of Australia-China relations. #ACELS17 #auschina #acya

Opened by ACYA's Mia Castagnone and Mackenzie Lang; delegates of the 17th Australia-China Emerging Leaders Summit heard keynote speeches by HE Mr. Scott Dewar, Australia's Ambassador to China, Mr. Gary Cowan, the CEO of the National Foundation for Australia-China Relations (NFACR) 澳中基金会 and Mr. John Williams, Australia's Consul-General to Shanghai. HE Mr. Scott Dewar, Australia's Ambassador to China, emphasised the importance of Australia-China people-to-people relations and the recent improvements in dialogue and exchange between Australia and China - notably, the importance of the recent visit by Li Qiang. Mr. Dewar also shared his hopes for delegates as emerging leaders of the next generation. Mr. Gary Cowan, CEO of NFACR, emphasised the importance of supporting better enhanced engagement between Australia and China - no matter whether it is between business, government and community - through dialogue and connections. Mr. John Williams, Australia's Consul-General to Shanghai, highlighted that while there are various differences between Australia and China, that these issues should not define the bilateral relations. Instead, both Australia and China should seek to manage differences well; a pragmatic approach given the complementarities across trade and investment, and the longstanding cooperation between the people of Australia and China which had spanned many decades and in many fields and industries. #ACELS17 #auschina #acya

The 17th Australia-China Emerging Leaders Summit (ACELS) is launching in half an hour! For the summit, we welcome over 80 delegates to China's global city: Shanghai, to renew dialogue between the next generation of youth from Australia and China; for them to also hear insights and ideas from experts and thought leaders. Stay tuned for live updates across the Summit's three day schedule, from July 5 to July 7! ACELS is an initiative proudly supported by the National Foundation for Australia-China Relations (NFACR) 澳中基金会. #ACELS17 #auschina #acya