I am concerned about the situation with China...however..we can't bow to bullying and that is exactly what the Chinese are doing at present. 

It's a shame and a great danger that our PM is such a good friend of Trump.

I am not at all fond of China owning so much of our country

Yes, I agree Sophie --

No wonder. The trump puppet in Canberra blames China for the whole nasty situation. But he never dares to complain when the yanks collect data from Australiens, spy on `friends`, start / continiue wars, bullies other nations.

I think this is terrific. Chinese "investment" is just money laundering. Now we hear that the Chinese company that bought the Van Dieman Dairy Company in Tasmania hasn't made any payments for 3 years. Our government facilitated this sale and denied a Tasmanian woman from buying it.

Plus there are the insane housing prices, pushed up by Chinese who come in at the end and outbid our kids.

So, it's a good thing, some short term pain for a long term gain. Government here has to learn to look long term instead of just to the next election.

I haven't bought anything made in china for ages and it's a good feeling!

The current Government spruiked the benefits of both investment from, and trade with, China until early this year then did quite an about face. That did coincide with Trump started to blame China from everything. That coincidence of timing does make us look like we are stil the U.S. Deputy Sheriff which is a real concern. When the big boys play, or fight, a smaller player in the middle is the one who will really lose out.

We do need to distance ourselves a bit from the U.S. and get back to being our own independent country.

I for one am happy there is less 'investment' from China. Australia should never be in a position where a single foreign entity is able to hold it to ransom. Australia should never sell off its natural resources such as farmland, water rights, mines etc. Australia should be selling the products of those things not the asset themselves.

As far as real estate goes, this is a good thimg. I remember just 8-9 years ago when looking to buy, I would turn up to developments and be the ONLY person there not speaking Mandarin. The brochures were all in Mandarin, the agents ALL of Chinese heritage and every single other would-be buyer also all Chinese (and many from overseas not simply Australians with Chinese ancestry). I am happy that finally the Government started enforcing the rules around home ownership that made it far more difficult for overseas nationals to buy up property then leave it empty for years.

There is a great big world out there and business owners (small and big) should be looking elsewhere. That does not mean that Australia should ignore China and the potential of its market BUT it should never again become the only market that is considered. If nothing else, these times should have taught that lesson.

India is to be the new china when it comes to making things, buy indian.

I remember the hysteria when the Japanese invested here in the late 80,s and then pulled out when their markets crashed a few years later.  Here in Cairns that investement boom put our tourism industry on its feet fast and has been a huge benefit.  I don't think we appreciate foreign investement from Asia as we do from Europe or the US, refelcting a still underlying racism in the Anglo world particularly.  A fear of the yellow devil is still evident in our political establishment, which does in no way reflect the Australian population as a whole.  Why would the Chinese want to invest here in such a climate?  I wouldn't...  

It's time we kept China at arms length.  They are gradually buying up all of the islands in the oceans between China and Australia and it's no secret that they have their eye on buying up Australia.  The sad thing is that our Government is aiding and abetting in this enterprise.  It's no surprise that ordinary Aussies can no longer afford to buy property because the Chinese are outbidding everyone.  If things keep going the way they have been, we'll all be learning to speak Chinese in the not too distant future.

Sorry Grey you got that one wrong more people more water use a commodity that is decreasing at a fast rate.Population growth is a con created by the big end of town to lower wages and it seems to be working.

About bloody time, we are at the beck and call of China, they own or have interest in most of our infrastructure.

They are blackmailing all the south pacific islands by building roads and hospitals and building big wharfs so their navy can tie up their biggest air craft carrier. This is done in the guise of a loan which they know can't be paid back. Then when the islands can't pay them back they are taking over the place.

Look at the new big mines in Queensland, the Queensland government welcomed them on the news a couple of weeks ago, it was a very quiet, almost unheard, thank you to the Chinese, after a big loud comment about all the jobs for Queensland people, the same with the stupid statement about the low life footbrawlers being welcome but but people with family health issues cant go there because they do not bring into Queensland millions of dollars.

We should give the rest of Queensland that the Chinese don't yet own to them, then get Trump to build us a wall and leave them to it. The Chinese can keep the bloody footbrawlers as well with their drugs, grog, domestic viollence and sexist and racist actions, see how long they last in Chinesland.

The Chinese are inscrutable, brilliant but do not like egg on their face, take for instance my ancient ancester Chiang Kai-shek, cross him and you will not  be around to tell the tale.

Having said that, pray India does not become the best mate of China or what we will get is a fusion of Indian and Chinese cuisine and let me tell you that is no joke. Indians are already top class when it comes to technology and China wants to play Chinese Checkers with them!

Time is well up for us to be manufacturing our own stuff ALL OF IT -- we used to do this in the 40s and 50s and EVERYONE also had jobs -- and we also exported good stuff as well

If Morrisons says he wants JOB, JOBS JOBS then start doing something about it

The reason Australia doesn’t produce everything it consumes is simple. Specialising in production is the best way to make a profit. To generalise and try to produce goods you do not have the expertise for is nothing short of stupidity.

Trade is about specialisation. All countries have limited resources, including Australia. Limited capital, labour, energy and materials, with which to produce things to sell to other countries. In order to survive, a country has to produce things that it is good at making and which can bring the most money on international markets. No country is going to buy rubbish.

This process of specialisation, is a process that is delivered by markets, not governments, and is made possible by free trade. Therefore only a fool would deny the importance of China’s involvement in our economy. The cold hard truth is, we need China but they do not particularly need us.