Australia locks down ports after 'nationally significant' cyberattack

Re:Australia locks down ports after 'nationally significant'... by defrost on Monday November 13, 2023 @03:09AM (#38248058)

Adding to the above comment which I'm happy to endorse there are two streams of Australian exports to China:

* bulk raw materials: iron ore, thermal coal, other minerals, etc

* (rock lobster, wines)^N - AKA aspirational middle class foreign luxuries

The raw materials are lifeblood to China and not easily replaced, they are inputs to Chinese industry and generate wealth for China after processing, sale and export in addition to providing infrastructure for growth.

The fancy goods for the chinese middle class is not a small market either; demographically China now has a middle class with disposable income that is larger than the entire population (all classes) of the USofA.

This is not the Red China the McCarthy era foaming anti communists warned us about, this is a country within another country that wants fine fibre merino wool suits, ethical cotton, nearly organic wheat, hand massaged beef, etc.

As much as the Xi faction enjoyed dropping the hammer on fine goods from Australia as payback for ScoMo rushing in with ill considerd comments from his National Party cheer squad they also faced some push back at home from disgruntled chinese consumers.

The demand is still there for the fine goods, once the political gates drop a little the spice will flow again.

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Re:Australia locks down ports after 'nationally significant'... by coffeecantcode on Monday November 13, 2023 @06:56AM (#38249243)

The growth of the middle class in China has been staggering over the last 15 years or so and I do agree with your statements as a whole, but how do you think the looming recession especially with the housing and development industry of China will pair with a middle class that, as all middle classes do, will bear the brunt of this load. This is a fairly new middle class system which is in my opinion built upon a fragile foundation. China has curated every aspect of their economy to create such a class based on assumptions that are now beginning to fault as growth slows to a halt and the economy begins to suffer. I think that upper middle class luxuries, while still in demand, will not return to the former glory of pre-2020 for quite a while for this reason.

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