PM Anthony Albanese looks to Indonesia and India to combat impacts of Chinese sanctions

New Prime Minister Anthony Albanese spent the last day of his trip to Indonesian visit talking up the “enormous opportunities” of trade with Australia’s island neighbour in a sign that the standoff from Beijing is far from over.

Indonesia will join India as the best chance of Australia diversifying its trade away from China, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said as he cast doubt on a near end to Beijing’s punishing trade sanctions.

Mr Albanese said China’s restrictions on $20 billion worth of Australia goods, including coal, wheat and wine, were “unjust” as he praised the “enormous opportunities” presented by the rapidly growing Indonesian economy – set to be the fifth biggest in the world.

He also expressed concern over reports of China establishing a naval base presence in Cambodia

His comments came as he wrapped up a three-day visit to Indonesia with a historic trip to the nation’s east, becoming the first Australian Prime Minister to visit Makassar, a port city of 1.5 million in the south Sulawesi region.

Wearing a traditional Indonesian batik shirt, Mr Albanese stepped off the plane and was presented with a kalung, a silk necklace.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanes speaks as Jamaluddin Jompa (second right), Rector of Hasanuddin University, looks on during Albanese's visit to the school's campus in Makassar on June 7. Picture: Andri Saputra / AFP

Driving through the poorer region, people lined the streets with phones and cameras out to capture the Prime Minister’s passage.

China recebtkt broke its diplomatic freeze with Australia when its Premier Li Keqiang reached out for the first time in more than two years shortly after Mr Albanese became Prime Minister, but its actions have not changed not any sanctions eased.

Mr Albanese was questioned on whether he expected the doors of trade would reopen to those impacted industries.

“I have said the sanctions imposed are unjust and should be removed,” he said.

“We’ll continue to work on trade diversification, because at one stage because at one stage, the trade proportion with China was up above 45 per cent.”

He said both India and Indonesia represented major opportunities to expand Australia’s exports beyond Beijing, with each economy already worth more than $1 trillion.

“These two economies stand out as representing enormous opportunities,” Mr Albanese said.

Mr Albanese visited the port city of Makassar, the first time an Australian prime minister had done so. Picture: Andri Saputra / AFP

But while Australia’s coal exports with Indonesia have more than doubled since the Indonesia-Australia Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement came into force since June last year, Mr Albanese said this would be left to the market as he seeks more “green trade and investment opportunities”.

“President (Joko) Widodo is absolutely committed to transforming the economy through clean energy,” he said.

Wesfarmers CEO Rob Scott, who was part of a high-level business delegation joining the Prime Minister on the trip, stressed the importance of diversifying and noted the retail giant already has interests in Indonesia.

“On the sourcing side as we look to diversify the sourcing of products we look to sell across our businesses, Kmart and Target, Indonesia is becoming a more important market,” he said.

Meanwhile, Mr Albanese expressed concern at reports in the Washington Post that China is building a naval facility for its exclusive use at Cambodia’s Ream Naval Base – something which the Cambodian government has denied.

“We are in regular contact with the Cambodian government. We have been consistently assured that no foreign government will be granted exclusive access at Ream,” he said.