Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's ability to speak Chinese is a proving to be a boon for Australian businesses.
A recent Sensis survey of 1,800 small to medium enterprises (SMEs) on behalf of Austrade found 42 per cent believed Mr Rudd's language skills would be of commercial benefit to them, Austrade chief economist Tim Harcourt said.
Mr Rudd has already won over the Chinese with his fluent Mandarin. A video message played to Peking University students received rapturous applause when he broke into perfect Chinese.
The prime minister arrives in Beijing on Thursday and will attend the Olympics Games opening ceremony.
However, he will also open Austrade's Business Club of Australia, designed to help build contacts between Australian and international businesses.
China is Australia's largest trading partner and business interests here are enormous.
Thousands of businesspeople, including senior executives from Australia's major corporates, will take part in the forum.
The BCA was established at the Sydney Olympics to help build contacts between Australian and international businesses.
It has since helped facilitate A$1.7 billion (billion) in trade and investment for Australian companies.
Trade Minister Simon Crean will also attend the BCA as part of a clean energy mission that will help Australian experts in renewable energy connect with the Chinese market.
