As China's middle class grows, those two sectors in particular are expected to grow further. In the year to September 2016, Chinese inbound tourists accounted for 1.1 million arrivals, up 22 percent on 2015, spending a staggering 9.1 billion Australian dollars (6.80 billion U.S. dollars).
"China is expected in the 2017/18 year to overtake NZ as our largest source of tourist arrivals and some numbers might even suggest that's already happened," Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC) Asia practice leader Andrew Parker said.
"So whichever way you look at it, Chinese tourists are an extremely important component of (the Australian) economy."
FURTHER GAINS
Tourism offers the best advertisement for Australian goods and services into the Chinese market. With Air China and other Chinese airlines increasing services into Australia, there's no doubt merchants are eyeing more customers.
What's better news for newcomer to the Chinese market Kooks Wine, China surpassed Britain and the United States to be Australia's largest market for wine in 2016.
Kooks, a social enterprise that contributes at least one percent of turnover to a charity or social program, is eyeing to export their Wild Reserve label - which features the face of a Giant Panda - into Chengdu in 2017.
"From a wine point of view, it's more of an entry level, starting point to meet with the Chinese demand for value pricing," Kooks director Chris Tucker told Xinhua, adding that at least one percent of sales turnover in China will go towards protecting endangered animals.
RELATIONSHIP FOR THE LONGER TERM
While there are concerns in the Asia-Pacific over uncertainty, Parker, like Bishop, argues that "the best security bet we have is a strong economic relationship with our largest trading partner."
"In fact, the economic growth that's happening in the whole southeast Asia corridor, much of it with Chinese and Japanese money now being invested into those regions, is actually a good thing for those economies but it's also a good thing for Australia," Parker said.
"And so the investment that China is making in infrastructure in the region ... at the end of the day, that infrastructure is absolutely vital to the economic development of the countries concerned, and that economic development is absolutely in Australia's interests to see that it happens."
