Published: 11:49am, 28 Feb, 2016 Updated: 2:54pm, 20 Jul, 2018
The growth in spending power of China's burgeoning middle class, increasing brand awareness and fears over the country's record on safety standards, particularly in food, health and medical products, has boosted the profits and share prices of Australian health food companies that produce infant milk powder, vitamin supplements and honey, among other commodities. The trend is described as a shift from "mining to dining" as Australia transitions from supplying China with key metals such as iron ore to feeding its consumption boom. Many Chinese are buying what they consider to be top-quality goods through "daigou", overseas professional shoppers, who help them source Australian products and ship them to China. In recent years, there have been calls for greater transparency about Australia's foreign aid spending.