Chinese ambassador to Australia Xiao Qian weighs in on Darwin Port lease conundrum at Darwin Fusion Event

Chinese ambassador to Australia Xiao Qian told a room of international delegates the Darwin Port had “great potential”, as he listed off his reasons to keep it in the hands of Chinese-owned company Landbridge. Read the details.

Chinese ambassador to Australia Xiao Qian told a room of international delegates Thursday that the Darwin Port had “great potential”, as he listed off his reasons to keep it in the hands of Chinese-owned Landbridge Group. Picture: Darrian Traynor/Getty Images

China’s ambassador to Australia Xiao Qian told a room of international delegates on Thursday that the Darwin Port had “great potential”, as he listed off his reasons for wanting to keep it in the hands of Chinese-owned Landbridge Group.

Mr Qian was only four minutes into his speech at the International Relations Conference in Darwin when he mentioned the port.

“I came here yesterday and immediately after my arrival I made a trip to the port with my colleague from Landbridge,” he said.

“The Chinese Landbridge Group from Shandong province has made tremendous contributions to the Northern Territory since the leasing.”

Mr Qian spoke on a number of topics throughout his speech at the event. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

His speech came during the opening of City of Darwin’s inaugural Darwin Fusion event, a two-day program that aims to “celebrate Darwin’s multicultural community and close trade, investment and links with international partners”.

International delegations from India, Greece, Vietnam, China, East Timor, Indonesia and Ecuador appeared at the event, with many thanking Darwin Lord Mayor Kon Vatskalis for the invitation.

“We’re friends with many countries because we believe friendly relations with countries benefits both populations,” said Mr Vatskalis.

Mr Qian, who described the NT as a northern gateway to Asia, said Australia-China relations had made a “full turnaround” and had come to a “new historical starting point”.

“We have brought the great relationship between China and Australia back to the right direction, back on the right track,” he said.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Chinese Ambassador to Australia Xiao Qian at the 2025 Australian of the Year Awards at the National Arboretum in Canberra. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

But it was the port that occupied a significant part of Mr Qian’s speech, with four-term Solomon MP Luke Gosling, a primary critic against the 99-year port lease deal, watching on from the audience.

“For the past 10 years, Landbridge has invested over $83 million to maintain, upgrade facilities … and improve all cargo operations,” he said, likely referring to Landbridge’s ‘A Year in Review 2023-24’ document.

“There’s great potential there for the development, and these efforts have significantly boosted the ports handling capacity, with annual gross registered tonnage of vessel visits coming to the port increasing by 95.7 per cent — from 16 million tons to more than 31 million tons.”

The “success” of the port, Mr Qian claimed, was enough reason for “local enterprises” to take notes too.

The Darwin Port was leased to Landbridge Group for $506 million in 2015. Picture: Darrian Traynor/Getty Images

He claimed if local enterprises followed in the footsteps of Landbridge, it would create more local employment and expand economic development.

“Landbridge has actively fulfilled social responsibility by participating in and generously sponsoring quite a number of community initiatives in the Darwin area,” he said.

“I want to congratulate Landbridge for your tremendous progress and contribution … to the beautiful [NT].”

Mr Qian said he hoped to let the port “be a connection” to the rest of Asia.

“Not only between China and Darwin, but also a new connection point, connecting China and Asia with the rest of Australia,” he said.

“It’s my hope that the [NT] government will continue to provide a fair, just and transparent non-discriminatory business environment for enterprises investing in them and operating in the Territory – including the Chinese enterprises.”

Originally published as Chinese ambassador to Australia Xiao Qian weighs in on Darwin Port lease conundrum at Darwin Fusion Event