Anthony Albanese backs rules-based international trading in first China speech
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has refused to say if Australia has softened its attitude to China joining a crucial regional trade bloc.
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Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has refused to say if Australia has softened its attitude to China joining a crucial regional trade bloc.
China has made it clear it is keen to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) a 12 country trade agreement which has been in existence since 2018.
Australia has never formally ruled in or ruled out whether it would support China joining but in the past ministers have made it clear they see very little chance of that happening.
But asked repeatedly in Shanghai on Sunday about where Australia now stood on the question, the PM refused to be drawn on he plans to tell Chinese Premier Li Qiang when he meets him on Monday in Beijing.
“So the question is what am I going to say in a meeting I’m having tomorrow? I think you answered the question. So the way I deal with things is to have meetings with people, when we have meetings, not to foreshadow in press conferences what will happen in those meetings,” he said.
Asked if the Government’s position had changed Mr Albanese said he had previously stated that any country must demonstrate that it can meet the high standards of the agreement.
“Any positions that are advanced tomorrow will be advanced tomorrow but we haven’t had those discussions yet,” he said.
The CPTPP was created after the US pulled out of an earlier agreement to create a regional trading system which it wanted to create as a counterweight to China’s increasing influence in the region.
China formally applied to join the CPTPP in 2021 but its application has gone nowhere as every member country would need to agree and Japan remains adamantly opposed to letting it in.
Australian Government ministers have made it clear they see no prospect of it happening any time soon.
In October 2022 Trade Minister Don Farrell said he did not believe “there’s any prospect China could join” the CPTPP, a position which was reiterated by his assistant Tim Ayres in April when he said “consideration of future accession applications is some way off”.
Earlier Mr Albanese spruiked Australia’s commitment to a rules-based international trading order in his first major speech since he arrived in China on Saturday.
Speaking to an audience which included China’s Premier Li Qiang, the PM told China’s biggest international trade show in Shanghai, Australia and China have prospered both “thanks to the certainty and stability that is made possible by rules-based trade”.
The PM’s remarks came after China lifted its ban on Australian barley exports after the World Trade Organisation had indicated it planned to rule in Australia’s favour in the dispute it had lodged over the export ban slapped on the grain in 2020.
Although the Chinese bans on wine and barley have been lifted since the Albanese Government was elected in May 2022, China is dragging its feet on lifting bans on the import of lobsters and meat from Australian abattoirs.
Mr Albanese said Australia was committed to free trade and open markets around the world.
“It’s why Australia will continue to be a constructive player in global economic architecture. Like China, we value our place at the table in the G20, APEC and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership and it’s why we continue to highly value the World Trade Organisation, whose role as an independent and respected umpire benefits us all,” he said.
The Prime Minister said every country had a role to play in advancing trade that is both sustainable and inclusive.
“These are goals we can achieve through our domestic policies, and through fostering open and inclusive regional and international architecture,” he said.
Mr Albanese also threw his weight behind a push for China to send replacements to Adelaide Zoo when its pandas Wang Wang and Fu Ni return home next year.
The pair, which have been a top-drawing attractions at the zoo since arriving in Australia in 2009, but are due to be sent back to China next November.
The PM declared himself to “pro-panda” saying they were “wonderful creatures” and for those on social media “there is not better Instagram accounts to follow than panda accounts”.
But speaking of Fu Ni and Wang Wang Mr Albanese said that although it was a fact of life that “pandas do get homesick” it was his understanding that Adelaide zoo and the Chinese counterparts were underway about replacing them.
He said “on behalf of Australia’s kids and families, I would like to see pandas maintain a presence in Australia”.
Originally slated to Australia for 10 years Wang Wang and Fu have already been given a five-year extension by the Chinese Government which owns the pair.
In August it was reported Adelaide Zoo is in discussions about another extension for the pair to remain in Australia.
Sadly despite 10 attempts at mating, Wang Wang and Fu Ni have failed to have a cub.
Mr Albanese’s speech followed an earlier address by the Chinese Premier to the China International Import Export Expo in which he also praised a rule-based trade system.
The two men sat together during the proceedings.
China’s official media has been at pains to lower expectations of the first visit of an Australian Prime Minister to China since 2016.
On Saturday a comment piece in the Communist Party’s official organ the People’s Daily praised the PM for his “independent, rational and pragmatic” foreign policy in contrast to the previous government which had been “acting as a pawn in the United States’ geopolitical chessboard”.
Describing his trip as “an ice-breaking move” it warned “it will take more than one visit to put bilateral relations back on track”.
Albanese touches down in China, pays tribute to fallen firefighters
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has paid tribute to the firefighters killed in Saturday’s Queensland air disaster.
Speaking as he arrived at his hotel in Shanghai after attending a dinner to welcome him as the first Australian leader to visit China since 2016 the PM said “all Australians’ thoughts are with the family, friends, and all who know the brave firefighters” who have lost their lives.
“We know that people who fight fires and stand up in emergency services risk their lives each and every day to assist their fellow Australians and to assist their communities and today, our hearts go out to them,” he said,
Flanked by Trade Minister Don Farrell, Mr Albanese said he wished to thank Premier Li of China for inviting him to the country, saying it was “a wonderful thing to be here - the first Australian Prime Minister to visit for seven years”.
Repeating a formula he has used on many occasion to describe Australia’s relationship with the Asian superpower, Mr Albanese said “we must cooperate with China where we can, we will disagree where we must, but we will also engage in our national interest.”
“It is in Australia’s interests to have a positive and constructive and open and respectful dialogue with our major trading partner and that’s what I hope to achieve over the coming days where I’ll be meeting President Xi, Premier Li and other leaders here in China,” he said.
“China is our major trading partner. More than one in four of our export dollars is derived from China. And we know, as well, that one in four Australian jobs is trade dependent, which is why it’s very good to be here with the Trade Minister.”
Earlier Mr Albanese was greeted on his arrival at Hongqiao Airport in Shanghai by the city’s Vice Mayor, Xie Dong and was presented flowers by a young girl.
Waiting for him as he descended the tarmac were the Australian Ambassador to China, Graham Fletcher, and the Chinese Ambassador to Australia, Xiao Qian.
“It’s very good to be here, look forward to the visit,” he said before leaving in his motorcade.
In honour of the Prime Minister’s arrival in China’s commercial capital, Shanghai’s famous Bund was completely locked down and the city’s Peninsula Hotel, where the official party is staying, was swamped with security guards.
On Sunday the PM will meet with his host, Chinese Premier Li Qiang at the China International Import Expo (CIIE) and attend a reception hosted by Tourism Australia before touring the Australian stands at the trade show.
He will then depart for Beijing where he will meet with China’s president Xi Jinping.
Originally published as Anthony Albanese backs rules-based international trading in first China speech
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