China’s economic leverage: perception and reality

Perceptions of Australia’s vulnerability to Chinese economic pressure are exaggerated. Some individual sectors are more vulnerable than others but this does not extend to the economy as a whole. > Economic pressure that would have the biggest impact on Australia, notably through the iron ore trade, would also impose restrictive costs on Beijing. > The intersection of politics, domestic interests and public perception is where China is most able to use economics for influence at the potential cost to our independent decision-making.