More blue-chip companies will be enlisted to operate in the Pacific, with the Albanese government telling corporate chiefs their social licence in Australia hinges on them acting in the national interest amid intense jockeying with China for regional influence.

The big banks, Telstra and Qantas have so far been tapped by Canberra to help lock out Chinese state-owned enterprises from boosting their presence in the Pacific, which has emerged as a crucial geostrategic battleground between Beijing and the West.