The Australia–China Commission: a Preliminary Proposal

In this paper we elaborate on a proposal for the establishment of an Australia–China Commission (‘the Commission’) — or the Aodaliya–Zhongguo Weiyuanhui (in Chinese) or, in short, the Ao–Zhong Commission — recommended in the Australia–China Joint Economic Report, for which we were jointly responsible. We suggest that, given the unique nature of the relationship between Australia and China, this initiative would provide important infrastructure in husbanding and developing the relationship between Australia and China over the years ahead. We suggest that the Commission should appropriately be an independent bi-national organisation that administers government, political, academic, business, community and cultural exchanges between Australia and China. The Commission would be established through a bilateral treaty, with core funding from the Australian and Chinese governments. It will also invite academic institutions, business, community foundations, prominent individuals and sub-national governments to sponsor specific bilateral programs through the Commission. We understand that this is a significant initiative, although it is one that we believe will be widely and warmly welcomed in both our countries. It is an initiative that will, of course, require careful work together by both governments so that they may settle on the best arrangements for its implementation. They will also need to consult extensively in that process. However, these are not reasons to delay this work: it is a recommendation simply to do that work thoroughly. We offer these thoughts, therefore, as an initial guide to the work that will have to be done if both our countries are to benefit fully from the establishment of this Commission. The Commission is critical to strengthening and deepening Australia–China bilateral ties over the coming decades. As the Australia–China economic relationship leaves the commodities boom behind and embraces a more complex range of exchanges that include services, technology and investment, both countries will increasingly need the bi-national cultural literacy and professional networks necessary for high-level collaboration across these fields. Not only the nature of the new economic relationship but also the scale of the interaction with China politically — , bilaterally, in the region and globally— demands a commitment to build lasting associations between the peoples of Australia and China. The Commission will help to achieve this goal by fostering, implementing and managing an ambitious agenda of bi-national investment in human capital. Its programs will involve linguistic capacity-building, multi-level scholarly exchange, official-level cooperation, political interactions, high-level business engagement, and carrying forward the work agenda of the Australia–China Joint Economic Relations Report (‘the Report’). Moreover, the process of establishing the Commission will support the Report’s recommendation that both sides strengthen their political relationship through working together towards a comprehensive bilateral treaty framework and a new level of international cooperation.