Representatives of the Australian government and of Australian mining companies have been visiting China as part of a campaign to attract Chinese investment for their mining resources.
Officials from the Australian states, including New South Wales, South Australia, Western Australia and Queensland, as well as from Australia's mineral resources department lately attended the 2009 China Mining Conference held in Tianjin for the purpose of introducing their mineral resources, their favorable policies and the various investment opportunities, and thereby of boosting interest from China investors.
"New South Wales has large swathes of unexplored mining areas, and welcomes investment from China," said an official from the mineral resources department in the State of New South Wales. The official went on to say that the state government strongly supports mining exploration and development, and that foreign investors could easily obtaining exploration rights through a bidding process which would not be disturbed by political issues.
However, faced with the wealth of investment opportunities, many Chinese companies have expressed concerns regarding the size of the stakes they will be allowed to buy, the length of approval periods, environmental protection costs, labor laws and other problems, which they say could complicate their investments considerably.