Daniel Andrews China: Premier travels to Beijing to talk Chinese students Victorian return

Premier Daniel Andrews will meet with Chinese officials to discuss the return of university students to Victoria, but confirmed he wouldn’t revive plans for a controversial deal.

Daniel Andrews in Tiananmen Square, China. Picture: Twitter

Premier Daniel Andrews says he will not revive the Belt and Road Initiative on his upcoming China trip, instead focusing on the return of Chinese students to Victoria. 

The premier confirmed he will travel to Beijing on Monday night to meet with senior education officials to discuss trade, cultural ties and the return of Chinese students to Melbourne.

But he said reviving the Belt and Road agreement between Victoria and China, which was torn up by the Morrison government, was not on the agenda.

“That matter’s in the past,” Mr Andrews said on Sunday.

“This trip is all about the future.” 

As part of the four-day trip, Mr Andrews will also travel to Jiangsu and Sichuan provinces to meet with key officials from Victoria’s sister states. 

“It’s a quick visit, but a really important opportunity for us to impress upon all of our partners in China ... that Melbourne is open,” he said.

But neither the trade minister or members of the media would accompany him on the trip, which he said would involve “back-to-back” meetings.

“It’s not a trip that’s designed to sign deals. It’s not a trip that’s designed to be touring, and making announcements about investments,” he said. 

“It’s all about getting more students or getting more products or services into China and indeed growing what is a very important partnership for jobs, for exports, for income.”

About 42,000 Chinese students are enrolled in Victoria and Mr Andrews said he wanted that number to grow.

The trip comes amid rising tensions with China over the federal government’s $368bn AUKUS agreement, with Mr Andrews to become the first Australian leader to visit the country since the submarine deal was inked.

Mr Andrews said he had spoken to the prime minister who was supportive of the trip and the state government had worked with DFAT to organise the trade mission.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong travelled to China in December which was the first federal ministerial visit in more than three years.

Mr Andrews also shot down suggestions the announcement was made the day before he left to avoid scrutiny and to keep the media attention on Moira Deeming and the Liberals.

“The Victorian Liberal Party have got nothing to do with the work that I do and I’ll leave that circus to unfold as they see fit,” he said.

He added plans for the trip were not finalised until recently.

“You’ve got to do the planning and then you make an announcement when it is appropriate to do so,” he said.

Victoria’s trade with China was valued at almost $40 billion last year, and the trip will mark the premier’s seventh visit to the country since he came to office.

“If you want even better partnerships, with more jobs and more investment, then you have to work harder and part of that is visiting China,” Mr Andrews said.

International enrolments have nearly returned to pre-pandemic levels with 141,000 students currently studying in Victoria compared to 151,000 in March 2020.

Victorian international education exports peaked at $13.7bn in 2019.

Deputy Liberal leader David Southwick said the premier needed to come clean on what the purpose of the trip was and how it benefited everyday Victorians.

“Previous Liberal-National governments have ... had super-trade missions where there’s been 100 businesses go to China to look at trading opportunities but Daniel Andrews is going it alone,” he said.

Mr Southwick said Victoria’s debt had soared to $165 billion and he questioned whether the government was looking to borrow money from China.

“One needs to ask if Victoria has run out of money and is Daniel Andrews going cap in hand to borrow more money from China,” he said.

“It does strike me as odd that the trade minister is not going to this trip.”

Mr Southwick added it was “problematic” that Mr Andrews had not provided an itinerary of the trip and was not bringing members of the media.

“Let’s repair the relationship between China and Australia and Victoria, but let’s do it in a sensible way and let’s do it in a transparent way that all Victorians are aware of,” he said.