Beijing Winning the PR War With Megaprojects in Pacific Nation, Australian CEO Warns

Medical technology CEO Nick Coyle says Chinese businesses largely dominate sectors like mining and infrastructure. This picture taken on May 18, 2023 shows a security guard looking through a door of a project building built by a Chinese company in Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea. Adek Berry/AFP via Getty Images&12/4/2025|Updated: 12/4/2025Australian businesses are losing ground in Papua New Guinea (PNG) amid an “aggressive push” into the region by Chinese and Malaysian companies, a PNG-based CEO warns.Nick Coyle runs Qland Pharma and Diagnostics based in the PNG capital, Port Moresby, and was previously CEO of the China-Australia Chamber of Commerce (AustCham) in Beijing. Rex Widerstrom is a New Zealand-based reporter with over 40 years of experience in media, including radio and print. He is currently a presenter for Hutt Radio.Author’s Selected Articles