Paulina Duran

SYDNEY (Reuters), Despite Australia’s openness to Chinese investors, it is now that national security and critical infrastructure protection are the key factors determining approval of deals. According to the Foreign Investment and Review Board of Australia (FIRB) on Thursday.

Chinese investment in Australia has fallen https://www.reuters.com/article/australia-china-investment-idUSL4N2CP1M1 by over 50% to about A$12 billion ($8.86 billion) over the past four years, driven by stricter capital controls by Beijing, and by a deterioration of the relationship between the countries.

David Irvine, Chairman of FIRB at Citi Investment Conference stated: “We operate a non-discriminatory investing policy… both as regards areas in which to invest… and in terms the provenance of the country where the investment is made.”

He pointed out that Chinese participation was a factor in 20% of all transactions approved over the last year.

Chinese investment proposals are still welcome. They’ll receive the same consideration as others who invest in these areas of national security concern if they’re Chinese.

China is Australia’s biggest trading partner. In July, exports reached a record A$19.4 million. Since the conflict, however, diplomatic relations are strained and China has restricted its imports from coal, wine, and barley.

Australia last year introduced the biggest reform of its foreign investment laws https://www.reuters.com/article/us-australia-investment-idUSKBN23C01J in almost half a century, including giving the government the power to force the sale of a business if it creates a national security risk.

Irvine is an ex-intelligence chief of Australia. He said that those reforms were based on the realization that global warfare’s growing component was disruption of critical infrastructure. Australia should take that into account, as other countries do.

They say that the Australian environment can be difficult, and I do hear them all the time. Australia isn’t the only one that pays more attention to national security in its investment programs.

($1 = 1.3539 Australian dollars)