The Oceania Business Council and the Yiwu Municipal Government Delegation hold an economic and trade cooperation forum and agreement signing ceremony
On 4 November 2026, the Economic and Trade Cooperation Forum and Agreement Signing Ceremony between the Oceania Business Council and the Yiwu Municipal Government Delegation was held at the World Trade Centre Melbourne. Yang Xin, Vice Mayor of the Yiwu Municipal People's Government, led representatives of Yiwu government departments and state-owned enterprises on the visit, and held in-depth exchanges with representatives of the Oceania Business Council and a number of Australian chambers of commerce and business associations on topics including two-way trade, agricultural product procurement, the sharing of overseas warehouse resources and business exchanges. At the meeting, the two sides signed two cooperation agreements, laying a foundation for long-term cooperation in trade and agriculture.
The event was hosted by the Oceania Business Council and co-organised by the Australia China Agri-Business Association, the Federation of Zhejiang Associations in Australia, the Australia Yiwu Association and the Inner Mongolia General Chamber of Commerce of Australia. It was chaired by Albert Zhao, Councillor of the Oceania Business Council and Secretary-General of its Business Services Committee. Members of the Yiwu delegation included senior representatives of the Foreign Affairs Office of the Yiwu Municipal People's Government, the Yiwu Branch of the Jinhua Municipal Bureau of Ecology and Environment, Yiwu Water Construction Group and Yiwu Market Group.
Drawing on Yiwu's Trading Platform to Expand "Buy from the World, Sell to the World" Cooperation
Yiwu is known as the "world's capital of small commodities". Its markets cover 8 million square metres of trading space and bring together more than 2.1 million products in 26 major categories. The city trades with more than 230 countries and regions, and overseas buyers make more than 680,000 purchasing visits to Yiwu each year. Yiwu has established 84 overseas projects in 37 countries and has 281 overseas warehouses, about one tenth of China's total. Building on the Yiwu–Xinjiang–Europe China–Europe freight train service and the Yiwu (Suxi) International Hub Port, Yiwu has developed four major corridors: by land, by sea, online and by air. The Global Digital Trade Center, its sixth-generation market, opened in October 2025 and is further driving the shift from a traditional marketplace to digital trade.
In an address, Vice Mayor Yang Xin outlined Yiwu's commercial development, international market network and digital transformation. Yang said that Yiwu has a mature export-oriented trading system and distribution channels that reach around the world, and is accelerating the digital development of its markets, logistics, supply chains and trade services. While consolidating its strength in "selling to the world", the city is working to expand its "buying from the world" function, building a platform for high-quality Australian agricultural products and other overseas goods to enter the Chinese market.
Vice Mayor Yang noted that China and Australia have complementary resource endowments and broad scope for cooperation. Yang expressed the hope that the visit would be an opportunity to strengthen ties with local chambers, associations and businesses, identify specific opportunities for cooperation, and promote the flow of products and exchanges of people.
In his address, Sunny Sun, Executive President of the Oceania Business Council, recalled his earlier visit to Yiwu and outlined the Council's trade exchanges and multi-sector cooperation with a number of regions in China. He said that Yiwu's market and supply chain strengths are highly complementary to Australia's resources in agricultural and sideline products, biomedicine and technology. The Council will bring together the resources of its specialist committees and partner chambers and associations to actively promote two-way procurement and business matching, so that the strategic cooperation delivers practical results.
Two Agreements Signed, Establishing a Framework for Ongoing Cooperation
Witnessed by the guests present, the Oceania Business Council and the Yiwu Free Trade Development Zone Administrative Committee signed a Strategic Cooperation Agreement. Under the agreement, the two parties will cooperate in areas including new forms of international trade, cross-border e-commerce, modern logistics, international supply chains, agriculture and food, advanced manufacturing, new energy and education. They will also establish a quarterly coordination meeting mechanism to support Yiwu enterprises in expanding into the Oceania market and to help high-quality Oceania products enter the Chinese market.
On the same day, the Australia China Agri-Business Association and the Yiwu Agriculture and Rural Affairs Bureau signed a cooperation agreement, under which the two parties will strengthen exchanges and cooperation in the agricultural industry and agricultural trade.
The signing of the two agreements provides a framework for the two sides to establish regular contact, match resources and take forward follow-up business discussions.
Agricultural Procurement and Shared Overseas Warehouses: Exploring Specific Paths for Cooperation
During the discussion session, participants put forward specific directions for cooperation, drawing on actual procurement needs, product channels and supply chain resources.
The Yiwu side outlined its interest in sourcing Australian almonds on this visit, and its wish to explore further opportunities for cooperation on products such as beef. Jiang Yan, Chairman of the Board of the Australia China Agri-Business Association, drew on local industry resources to outline the supply of products including nuts, canola, malting barley, beef and lamb, and the scope for trade cooperation. He said the association was willing to draw on its existing industry network to match procurement needs precisely with supply.
Chairman Jiang also suggested that two-way trade need not be limited to agricultural products and could extend to agricultural technology and equipment such as agricultural drones, helping relevant Chinese products and technologies enter the Australian market. He supported establishing a regular liaison mechanism and hoped that, through ongoing communication and reciprocal visits, opportunities for cooperation could be turned into actual business.
Hao Jiancai, President of the Inner Mongolia General Chamber of Commerce of Australia, shared ideas for cooperation on taking specialty products overseas and developing overseas warehouses. He proposed that Inner Mongolia's specialty products be developed in coordination with Yiwu's merchandise, warehousing and channel resources. The Yiwu side responded positively, saying that existing overseas warehouse resources could be further matched and shared use explored, and welcomed such products expanding their sales channels through the Yiwu market.
These exchanges set a clear direction for follow-up work on product procurement, channel cooperation and the matching of warehousing resources.
Improving Communication Mechanisms to Keep Cooperation Moving
In his remarks, Hu Wei, Executive President of the Federation of Zhejiang Associations in Australia and President of the Australia Yiwu Association, recalled his earlier work in encouraging Australian chambers and associations to visit Yiwu. He said he would continue to serve as a bridge between his hometown and the Australian business community, encourage more delegations to visit Yiwu, deepen mutual understanding and seek business opportunities together.
To help put the agreements into practice, Executive President Sunny Sun proposed establishing quarterly video meetings and a dedicated liaison mechanism to follow up on two-way procurement and cooperation across sectors. Before the meeting closed, the Council confirmed that, as provided in the agreement, it would designate a dedicated contact to maintain day-to-day communication with the Yiwu side and take specific cooperation matters forward.
The forum further deepened exchanges between Yiwu and the Oceania business community. The signing of the agreements and the in-depth discussion of specific business set the direction for the next stage of cooperation. The Oceania Business Council will continue to play its role as a platform for chambers and associations, working with relevant organisations and enterprises to promote resource sharing, the matching of needs and practical cooperation, and to help deepen economic and trade ties between Yiwu and Oceania.
Attendees
Yiwu Municipal Government Delegation
Government representatives
- Yang Xin, Vice Mayor, Yiwu Municipal People's Government
- Jin Xiaoding, Party Secretary, Yiwu Branch of the Jinhua Municipal Bureau of Ecology and Environment
- Zhu Jingbo, Deputy Director, Foreign Affairs Office of the Yiwu Municipal People's Government
- Dong Xiaofen, Section Chief, Foreign Affairs Administration Section, Foreign Affairs Office of the Yiwu Municipal People's Government, and interpreter
State-owned enterprise representatives
- Zhang Jingfeng, Chairman, Yiwu Water Construction Group
- Zhou Jian, Member of the Party Committee, Yiwu Market Group
- Zhu Chengfeng, Office Director, Yiwu Water Construction Group
Oceania Business Council
- Sunny Sun, Executive President
- Angela Liu, Executive Vice President
- Diana Lin, Vice Chair of the Board
- Sheryl Leigh, Secretary-General
- Jing Liu, Deputy Secretary-General
- Albert Zhao, Councillor; Secretary-General, Business Services Committee
- Joanne Chen, Council Member
- Henry Yang, Secretary-General, Innovation and Entrepreneurship Committee
- Emily Wang, Secretary-General, Cultural Exchange and Arts Development Committee
- Lyu Shangkuan, Secretariat, Oceania Business Council
Australia China Agri-Business Association
- Jiang Yan, Chairman of the Board
- Chan Hongwu, Vice President
Other attendees
- Hu Wei, Executive President, Federation of Zhejiang Associations in Australia; President, Australia Yiwu Association
- Hao Jiancai, President, Inner Mongolia General Chamber of Commerce of Australia
- Li Xiaopeng, Deputy Secretary-General, Inner Mongolia General Chamber of Commerce of Australia
- Lu Chao, Director, Australian Federal Government Food Safety Laboratory
- Ke Wei, Director, World Trade Centre
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