National Briefing with the Australian Embassy Beijing

24 Nov 2021

ACBC is pleased to invite Australia’s Deputy Ambassador to the People’s Republic of China, Jason Robertson to provide an update on the Australia-China bilateral relationship from the Australian Embassy in Beijing.

Jason will be joined by Simon Farbenbloom, Minister-Counsellor (Economic) at the Australian Embassy Beijing for a briefing on the evolving macro-policy framework in China. Austrade’s General Manager for Greater China Daniel Boyer will provide an update on the commercial environment and Chinese consumer sentiment.

Speakers will be joined by ACBC National President David Olsson and National Executive Officer Virginia Birrell to discuss questions posed by ACBC members on matters concerning the bilateral relationship and Australia-China business relations.

This event will be held under strict Chatham House rules.

All questions must be submitted prior to the event. Please submit during the registration process or email zach.eggleston@acbc.com.au by Tuesday 30 November.

The event will be hosted on the WebEx digital platform and login details will be circulated ahead of the event. Registration closes 24 hours before the event.

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Event Speakers

Jason Robertson

Deputy Head of Mission to the People’s Republic of China

Jason Robertson is a senior career officer with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. He took up the position of Deputy Head of Mission at the Australian Embassy in Beijing in January 2020. Prior to his appointment in Beijing, Jason was Consul-General in Guangzhou, China. He has also had earlier postings to Australian diplomatic missions in Beijing, Islamabad and Belgrade. He has served in a variety of positions in DFAT Canberra including, most recently, as Assistant Secretary East Asia Branch. Jason has served with the United Nations Department of Peacekeeping Operations in Sarajevo, Pristina and New York. Jason holds a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) from the University of Queensland. He is married with two children.

Simon Farbenbloom

Minister-Counsellor (Economic), Australian Embassy, Beijing

Simon Farbenbloom took up his position as Minister-Counsellor (Economic) at the Australian Embassy, Beijing in 2021. He has worked on international trade and economic issues with the Australian Government for over 25 years. Mr Farbenbloom has also served in diplomatic positions at the Australian Permanent Mission to the World Trade Organization, the Australian Embassy in Bangkok and the Australian Embassy in Tokyo. In previous roles in Canberra, Mr Farbenbloom was the Deputy Chief Negotiator for Australia’s free trade agreement negotiations with China, India and Korea, with concurrent responsibility for services and investment in those negotiations and in the Australia-Japan free trade agreement negotiation. From 2005-2010, Mr Farbenbloom served as Chief Legal Counsel for Australia’s free trade agreement negotiations with ASEAN, China, Japan, Korea and Malaysia.

Daniel Boyer

General Manager, Greater China and Minister (Commercial), Austrade

Daniel is General Manager, Greater China, based in Beijing. Daniel leads a team of 111 staff across 8 offices delivering high-quality trade and investment services to companies in Australia and Greater China. Daniel joined Austrade in 2014, most recently leading the Government and Partnerships division. In his time at Austrade, Daniel has held a number of senior roles, including leading the reorganisation and restructure of the agency as the General Manager of the Positioning for our Future project. Prior to moving to Austrade, Daniel worked in a number of Australian Government Agencies, most recently in Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP). Daniel’s positions in DIBP included Regional Director East Asia, responsible for visa operations across North Asia and the Mekong economies, also based in Beijing.

David Olsson

National President, Australia China Business Council

David Olsson is the National President of the Australia China Business Council and International Director of law firm King & Wood Mallesons. He is currently based in Hong Kong where he focuses on Australian business engagement in the Greater Bay Area. As a former Managing Partner of the firm, David was a senior partner in the firm’s Beijing office for six years until 2013 and has been advising clients in relation to cross-border trade and investments in the Asian region for over three decades. He leads several industry working groups that focus on financial market connectivity between Australia and China; is a business champion for the Australian Government’s New Colombo Program; a member of the Business Council of Australia’s Global Engagement Committee, a member of the Council of the Australian National University Foundation; and sits on several advisory boards focused on Australian business engagement in the Asian region.

Virginia Birrell

National Executive Officer, Australia China Business Counci

Virginia joined the Australia China Business Council Victoria (ACBC) as CEO in August 2014 and began her concurrent role as National Executive Officer in 2021. She works in close liaison with Austrade, DFAT, Federal and State Governments, the China Chamber of Commerce in Australia, Chinese Government representatives and with the over 3,000 member organisations connected with the council around Australia. Her primary responsibilities are to optimise the performance and strategic growth of the ACBC and to ensure member companies in city, metropolitan and regional areas are provided with knowledge, advice and strategic networking activities to grow their business opportunities in and with China. She also works to assist Chinese companies who wish to do business in Victoria and ACBC’s nation-wide state Branches.