On 7 August 2026, Zhanjiang Mayor Li Yongyi led a municipal trade and economic delegation to Sydney. The Australia Guangdong Chamber of Commerce and ACCIA jointly received the delegation and held a trade and economic cooperation forum at the Australia Guangdong Chamber of Commerce.

The two sides held in-depth discussions on China-Australia trade and investment, industrial cooperation, and cooperation opportunities in agriculture and aquaculture, new energy, infrastructure, culture and tourism.

Attending the forum from Zhanjiang were Mayor Li Yongyi; Guo Xiong, Secretary-General of the Zhanjiang Municipal Government; Zhang Pei, Director of the Zhanjiang Municipal Bureau of Commerce, President of the Zhanjiang Council for the Promotion of International Trade and Party Working Committee Secretary of the Zhanjiang Comprehensive Bonded Zone; Wang Dunyan, Director of the Zhanjiang Foreign Affairs Bureau; and Chen Qiao, Deputy Director of the Zhanjiang Investment Promotion Bureau.

From the Australian side, attendees included Yang Tao, President of the Australia Guangdong Chamber of Commerce; Su Yongjian, Executive President; Long Qiwen, Standing Vice President; Wu Aimin, Vice President and CEO of Australia's KF Group; and Pan Zeming, Chief Adviser. ACCIA was represented by Chairman Su Xinfeng, Vice Chairman Tommy, Executive President Zheng Maoqiang and Secretary-General Wang Miaofan, alongside representatives of other Australian chambers, business associations and enterprises.

Deepening trade and economic cooperation between Zhanjiang and Australia

At the forum, Yang Tao extended a warm welcome to Mayor Li Yongyi and his delegation on behalf of the Australia Guangdong Chamber of Commerce. He said the Chamber has long worked to promote trade and industrial cooperation between Guangdong and Australia, and maintains close communication with relevant Guangdong provincial government departments, the provincial trade promotion council and cities across Guangdong.

Yang Tao said that China-Australia trade and economic cooperation is now entering a period of new opportunity. The Chamber will further develop its role as a platform connecting governments, business associations and enterprises, providing resource matching and support services for Chinese companies entering the Australian market and for Australian companies investing in Guangdong. He expressed hope for closer collaboration with ACCIA and other friendly Australian chambers to help move more two-way investment, industrial cooperation and trade projects from discussion to implementation.

Mayor Li Yongyi gave an overview of Zhanjiang's economic and social development, industrial layout, investment environment and priority areas for cooperation, and discussed how Zhanjiang could further strengthen trade, investment and industrial cooperation with Australia.

As a key connecting region for national strategies including the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, the Hainan Free Trade Port and the New Western Land-Sea Corridor, Zhanjiang holds locational advantages in ports, marine resources, port-adjacent industries and regional transport. Participants explored how Australian market and industrial resources could form more concrete two-way cooperation with Zhanjiang across its port industries, marine economy, aquatic product trade, modern agriculture, infrastructure, bonded-zone trade, new energy, and culture and tourism resources.

Business associations working together on project matching

ACCIA Chairman Su Xinfeng said he hoped to make full use of the strengths of business associations in enterprise connections, resource integration and project matching, working with the Australia Guangdong Chamber of Commerce to build closer and more practical cooperation between Australian and Chinese enterprises.

Representatives of the chambers and enterprises present then spoke from the perspective of their own sectors on aquatic and agricultural product trade, infrastructure investment, new energy, supply chains, culture and tourism, and two-way corporate investment, exchanging views on several potential areas of cooperation.

Mayor Li Yongyi and President Yang Tao each gave closing remarks. Both sides expressed the hope that the Sydney forum would serve as a new starting point for establishing a more sustained mechanism for communication and project matching, combining each side's resource strengths with the actual needs of enterprises to further advance practical cooperation between Zhanjiang and Australia in trade, investment and industry.

The exchange was also a practical example of the Australia Guangdong Chamber of Commerce and ACCIA jointly connecting government and enterprise resources. Going forward, the Australia Guangdong Chamber of Commerce will continue to strengthen collaboration with friendly Australian chambers and associations, serving as a bridge linking Guangdong with Australian government, industry and enterprise resources, and creating more tangible opportunities for local-level China-Australia trade and two-way investment cooperation.