Last year, more than one in every four dollars Australia earned in exports came from sales to China, and as of the start of this year Australia was also the single biggest recipient of Chinese non-financial investment. Engagement with China has helped transform Australia’s economic fortunes and contributed to turning the country into one of the world’s best performing developed economies. At the same time, the deepening bilateral relationship has forced Australian policymakers to grapple with a series of challenges, from setting policies to deal with Chinese investment to adapting to significant structural change. In this presentation, Mark Thirlwell, director of the Institute’s international economy program, takes a look at life in China’s economic orbit.