Open up to Chinese trade, Xi tells Albanese

Beijing says the ‘most difficult time’ for China-Australia relations has passed but one big hurdle remains in the way.

Beijing has said the “most difficult time for China-Australia relations has passed”, but told Canberra to improve the relationship the Albanese government needs to reduce hurdles on Chinese businesses.

President Xi Jinping brought up China’s long standing unhappiness with investment hurdles for Chinese businesses in Australia during his Tuesday meeting with Anthony Albanese.

“It is hoped that the Australian side will provide a good business environment for Chinese enterprises to invest and operate in Australia,” Mr Xi told Australia’s Prime Minister, according to China’s official broadcaster CCTV.

The Turnbull government significantly raised hurdles for Chinese investment in Australia’s critical infrastructure and was the first government in the world to ban Chinese giant Huawei from its 5G network.

In opposition, Mr Albanese was a sharp critic of the Turnbull government for not blocking the purchase of the Port of Darwin by the Chinese firm Landbridge. The Prime Minister has said the port’s ownership is under review, setting it up as a potential flashpoint in the still strained relationship.

The initial Chinese party state media reports on the first substantial meeting in six years between China’s leader and an Australian prime minister noted “positive signs”, but cautioned about the outlook.

Yu Lei, chief research fellow at the research centre for Pacific island countries of Liaocheng University in East China‘s Shandong Province, said much would depend on the future of China-US relations.

“It is too early to determine if the current Australian government would maintain such maturity, and keep being pragmatic in handling ties, as the shift in attitude would be a product of both international and domestic factors,” he told the Global Times.

Mr Albanese said that China’s leader did not bring up AUKUS during their Tuesday meeting, but Mr Xi did include a swipe at the US and its alliance network during his address to the G20 summit.

Mr Xi warned about “group politics and bloc confrontation” and “the Cold-War mentality” in a pointed passage of his speech, which mostly focused on his “Global Development Initiative”, a banner phrase for Beijing’s development-focused foreign policy.

“No one should engage in beggar-thy-neighbour practices, building ‘a small yard with high fences,’ or creating closed and exclusive clubs,” China’s leader said.

In their Tuesday meeting, President Xi downplayed the historic rift in the relationship, telling his Australian counterpart that “there has never been a fundamental conflict of interest between China and Australia”, according to CCTV.

After the meeting, the Global Times listed some of China’s ongoing grievances with Australia, including the banning of Huawei from Australia’s 5G network in 2018 and anti-dumping investigations against Chinese products.

“Only if Australia gives Chinese companies fair treatment can the country promote efficient and mutually beneficial trade and economic co-operation with China,” the party state masthead said.

However, even Beijing’s most pugilistic masthead struck a more moderate tone than it has in recent years.

“The most difficult time for China-Australia relations has passed,” the Global Times editorialised.

“We hope the meeting between the two heads of state in Bali will become a new starting point for broader communication between the two sides to resolve their differences and promote healthy and stable development of trade and economic relations.”

It said that any further improvement would turn on whether Canberra could “properly handle” relations with its biggest trading partner, which continues to blacklist Australian exports previously worth $20 billion a year.