Great haul of China visit: PM spruiks ‘tangible outcomes’
Anthony Albanese has lashed Coalition claims his lengthy China trip was ‘indulgent’, saying he had demonstrated Australia’s ‘respect’ to more than a billion Chinese people, while positioning his government to work through differences with Beijing.
Anthony Albanese has lashed Coalition claims his lengthy China trip was “indulgent”, saying he had demonstrated Australia’s “respect” to more than a billion Chinese people, while positioning his government to work through differences with Beijing.
On the final day of his record six-night visit, the Prime Minister said he had advanced Australia’s economic interests and strengthened ties with China’s top leaders, developing a “warm and friendly” relationship with Xi Jinping.
But as he prepared to fly home to Australia, Mr Albanese declined to say whether he trusted the Chinese President, declaring instead that Mr Xi was yet to break any commitments he had made to him.
Mr Albanese’s comments followed Coalition criticism on Thursday over his China itinerary, which included an excursion to the Great Wall of China to retrace Labor hero Gough Whitlam’s steps in 1971, and a picture opportunity at a panda breeding centre with fiancee Jodie Haydon.
Opposition finance spokesman James Paterson said it was hard to identify any “tangible outcomes” from the six-day trip, and that high-level visits were not for “personal enjoyment”.
“Frankly, I have to say that some of this is starting to look a little bit indulgent,” Senator Paterson said on Sky News.
“I mean, the appropriate time to do a nostalgic history tour of Labor Party mythology is after you retire, in your own time, at your own expense, not on the taxpayer dime.”
Mr Albanese hit back, arguing the visits to the popular tourist attractions had furthered Australia’s standing among everyday Chinese people.
“Those pictures go to 27 million people, potentially, in Australia. They go to over a billion people in China. And those billion people represent people who are increasingly rising up the income ladder and are potential tourists and therefore job creators in Australia,” he said.
“The Great Wall of China symbolises the extraordinary history and culture here in China, and showing a bit of respect to people never cost anything. But you know what it does? It gives you a reward.”
Mr Albanese rattled off what he said were the outcomes of the visit, including talks on steel decarbonisation between Chinese steelmakers and the heads of Australia’s top iron ore producers, and the promotion of Australian medical technology companies such as world-leading hearing aid manufacturer Cochlear.
The Prime Minister – who is yet to have a first meeting with US President Donald Trump – denied he had been “cosying up” to China while allowing the Australia-US relationship to languish.
“What we’ve had is constructive engagement. We have continued to be able to put forward Australia’s position,” he said.
“Will there be a circumstance when there is no disagreements? No, because we have different political systems, we have different cultures, we have different values.
“What I’d like to see is to be able to talk about those issues regularly, get as much agreement as possible, but (also) understanding of where our nations are coming from. Out of understanding can come greater co-operation.”
Mr Albanese has talked up the strength of the Australia-China economic relationship during the trip, which included lengthy meetings with President Xi and China’s No.2 leader, Premier Li Qiang, in Beijing, as well as stops in Shanghai and Chengdu for business-focused events.
Beijing was also upbeat, despite concerns over Australian investment rules and Labor’s vow to reclaim the Port of Darwin from a Chinese company, with Mr Xi saying China wanted “to push the bilateral relationship further”.
One of Australia’s foremost China experts, Swinburne Emeritus Professor John Fitzgerald, said the Chinese side would not be satisfied with the countries’ newly “stabilised” relationship, and would continue to push Australia for concessions.
“If all it takes to have a good relationship with Xi’s China is to smile, exchange compliments, and talk business, then PM Albanese is on to a good thing,” he said.
“Xi clearly expects more than that. He is likely to be disappointed.”
China is far and away Australia’s largest trading partner, with total two-way goods and services trade valued at $312bn in 2024 – more than Australia’s next three trading partners combined.
But Australian investment in China has more than halved since Mr Albanese was elected in 2022, amid concerns over heightened business risks and China’s slowing economic growth.
The entire stock of Australian direct investment in China stood at only $1.6bn at the end of 2024, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, shrinking by almost 90 per cent since 2019.
Chinese firms have also reduced their stock of direct investment in Australia every year since 2019.
Ahead of a tour of Cochlear’s Chengdu factory, Mr Albanese said the Covid pandemic had choked global investment and he wanted to see bilateral investment levels bounce back.
Cochlear has 100 staff in China and plans to grow that number to 400 in coming years if it gets regulatory approval for a new generation hearing aid.
The company does its research and development entirely in Australia and only sells hearing aids that are two-generations behind to protect its intellectual property.
Mr Albanese – a tennis fanatic – also threw his weight behind the game in China, two years after the women’s tour returned to the country amid ongoing concerns over the fate of former high-ranking player Peng Shuai.
The Labor leader spruiked the Australian Open’s 2026 wildcard tournament in Chengdu after arriving in the Sichuan capital on Wednesday, declaring the event would strengthen Australia-China ties.
“When I had the honour of meeting with President Xi (Jinping) yesterday, one of the themes of our discussions was improving people-to-people and cultural links between Australia and China, and I can think of no better way than through this sporting engagement,” Mr Albanese said.
His endorsement of Chinese tennis follows Peng’s disappearance in November 2021 after she accused a retired senior Communist Party official of raping her.
The former No.1-ranked doubles player has not been seen in public since an orchestrated appearance at the 2022 Winter Olympics in China where she met with IOC officials.
During the Prime Minister’s trip, Mr Xi pushed back on Mr Albanese’s call for more notice of PLA Navy drills in Australian waters, prompting further criticism from the opposition.
Defence Minister Richard Marles said Australia only wanted China to abide by international law, conceding a heavily armed PLA Navy task group had been within its rights when it conducted a live-fire drill off Australia’s east coast in February, before circumnavigating the country.
“It is much more the case that the Royal Australian Navy is in the vicinity of China than the Chinese Navy is in the vicinity of Australia,” Mr Marles told ABC.
But Opposition Leader Sussan Ley said it was not Mr Marles’ job “to make excuses for the Chinese Communist Party”.
“I am disappointed that there wasn’t an assurance that we wouldn’t have a repeat of circumnavigation of our coastline, live firing, civilian aircraft having to be diverted out of that airspace,” Ms Ley said on Channel 9.
“It’s not good enough. We want a strong, respectful relationship, but that respect has to cut both ways.”
The final day of Mr Albanese’s trip came as President Trump dialled down his confrontational tone with China amid efforts to secure a summit with his Chinese counterpart to cut a new trade deal.
He said China had been making “big steps” to crack down on fentanyl production, which had been one of his biggest gripes with Beijing.
“They want to do something. We’ll see what happens,” Mr Trump said on Thursday AEST.
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