China Market Entry S trategies: A Case Study on Sister State and Sister City Relationships in Queensland.

Since 1987 the Chinese economy has moved from being the 32 nd largest economy in the world to 6 th currently and it is on target to become the largest by 2012. The implications for Australia are significant. However, entering the Chinese market is complex and much depends on understanding formal networks. This paper explains some of the complexities and, in particular, the principle of ‘guanxi’. The paper briefly examines how Australian potential business entrepreneurs can take accelerated advantage of guanxi through the formal Sister City and Sister State Arrangements in entering the Chinese market. A brief case study is provided of each of the two such arrangements to illustrate how they operate.