BRISBANE, Australia, Nov. 14 (Xinhua) -- Brisbane is the capital of Queensland with a 135 -billion-Australian dollar (117 billion U.S. dollar) economy and a population of 2.1 million people, of which a quarter were born overseas.
There are many Chinese people living in the city and Mandarin is the second most common language spoken in Brisbane households.
Brisbane has been developing close links with China and has formal sister city relationships with Chongqing and Shenzhen which encourage economic development between the cities and create investment and job opportunities from China into Brisbane.
In September 2014, Brisbane Airport (BNE) became the first Australian airport to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Shanghai Airports Authority (SAA) in a partnership aiming to strengthen key relationships and boost aviation links between Australia and China.
Also in September 2014, Brisbane Lord Mayor Graham Quirk took more than 40 delegates on a successful business mission to Shanghai. In September 2013, Quirk led a business delegation to the Asia Pacific Cities Summit in China's Taiwan and then onto the Chinese mainland.
In September 2012, the mayor of Shenzhen visited Brisbane with a delegation including business people, research institutes and education providers.
The Choose Brisbane marketing campaign was launched in China's Hong Kong and on the Chinese mainland in March 2013 and aims to expand existing and create fresh opportunities.
More than 3,000 outdoor billboards have appeared in Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka and Singapore. The third phase of the campaign began in July 2014 across Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland, Singapore, Britain, Berlin, Spain, Brazil, India, Indonesia, the United Arab Emirates, Japan, South Korea, the United States and Canada.
China remains Queensland's largest trading and investment partner with considerable economic activity occurring particularly in mining, agribusiness and property.
Queensland's merchandise exports to China grew by 25.8 percent from 9.218 billion Australian dollars (8 billion U.S. dollars) in 2012-13 to 11.599 billion Australian dollars (10 billion U.S. dollars) in 2013-14 with coal, metal products and ores accounting for the majority of trade.
In 2012-13, China was Queensland's top source of proposed foreign investment, valued at 3.4 billion Australian dollars (3 billion U.S. dollars).
Chinese investments span various sectors of the Queensland economy including oil and gas, coal mining, real estate, agribusiness and transport.
The gateway to Queensland's mineral wealth, Brisbane is home to about 170 resource companies and more than 100 mining technology and services firms, representing a significant proportion of the sector in resource-rich Queensland.
Brisbane is internationally recognized as a center of excellence in the field of mining equipment, technology and services (METS) and has Australia's highest concentration of METS companies compared to other major cities.
Brisbane has been pivotal in capitalizing on China's growing demand for mineral, petroleum and gas resources from Queensland through the city's advanced port, road and rail infrastructure.
Major investments have recently emerged from Chinese companies including PetroChina investing significantly in LNG and Baosteel with rail operator Aurizon in Queensland's coal and metals sector.
Other notable Chinese companies investing in Brisbane include China Minmetals Corporation, Chinalco, MMG and Citic Group.
China acquired more than 323 million Australian dollars (280 million U.S. dollars) in land throughout Queensland in 2012 to 13, more than any other foreign country.
Guangzhou Property Group and China Construction Bank have recently entered Brisbane's hotel markets with considerable investments in metropolitan property following growing investment from other regions throughout Asia.
Brisbane is well placed to cater to the growing demands of the Asia Pacific market for the secure supply of high-quality, high- value processed food and beverage products.
China's COFCO has invested significantly in Queensland's agricultural sector including the purchase of Tully Sugar Mill in Northern Queensland.
Chinese based NEW Hope Investment Fund acquired a majority stake in Queensland beef processor and exporter Kilcoy Pastoral Company (KPC).
More than 65 percent of Brisbane's 75,000 international student enrollments are from G20 countries, including G20 guest nations. China is the number one country for international student enrollments in Brisbane.
In the six months to June 2014, there were 8,839 international students from China studying in Brisbane, representing 20 percent of the city's total international student population.
At the University of Queensland Chinese students represent 25 percent of the total number of international students. China has agreed to be involved in the New Colombo Plan from 2015, which will encourage a more genuine two-way flow of students between our countries.
China is the city's second largest international visitor market, accounting for 17.3 percent of all international visitors.
In the year ending March 2014, Brisbane attracted 128,000 visitors from China, a rise of 3.9 percent on the year before. Of these, 86,000 were holiday visitors.
While international visitation to Brisbane declined 2 percent in the year to March 2014, several Asian markets also recorded strong growth over the same period (India 10 percent, Hong Kong 17 percent and Thailand 12 percent). Overall, Chinese visitors stayed a total of three million nights in Brisbane.
Brisbane is very popular with Chinese visitors to Australia, because of its unique combination of natural and leisure experiences, modern infrastructure and opportunities to interact with native wildlife, including koalas and kangaroos.
Brisbane's tourism industry contributes more than 3.3 billion Australian dollars (2.8 billion U.S. dollars) to the city's gross regional product.
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