China trip: Don Farrell firm on national security
Trade Minister Don Farrell will push back on Chinese calls for Australia to relax its foreign investment rules ahead of high-level talks in Beijing.
Trade Minister Don Farrell will push back on Chinese calls for Australia to relax its foreign investment rules, declaring ahead of high-level talks in Beijing that the Albanese government reserves its right to block stakes in critical companies on national security grounds.
Senator Farrell, who will meet Chinese counterpart Wang Wentao on Friday, said he felt “the weight of responsibility on my shoulders” to negotiate an end to Chinese trade bans on Australian companies.
After arriving in Beijing on Thursday afternoon, Senator Farrell met senior executives from the China Baowu Steel Group, the world’s largest steelmaker and the biggest buyer of Australian iron ore. The Chinese state-owned enterprise had a win earlier this year with a positive Foreign Investment Review Board ruling on its $2bn joint venture with Rio Tinto to develop the Western Range iron ore mine in the Pilbara.
Senator Farrell said Chinese investments in Australia were “overwhelmingly” approved, but he would stand firm on Australia’s right to reject foreign bids for strategically vital assets.
China’s government declared on Thursday night it was “willing to work” with Australia.
Asked about Senator Farrell’s arrival in Beijing ahead of ministerial-level talks on Friday, China’s Foreign Ministry said the two countries were following the path agreed to by Xi Jinping and Anthony Albanese last November in Bali at the G20.
“The Chinese side is willing to work with the Australian side to implement the important consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries, enhance mutual trust, deepen co-operation, properly handle differences, and promote the sustained, healthy and stable development of China-Australia relations,” China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said. China recently accused Australia of abusing national security grounds to block the country’s investments, after Jim Chalmers intervened – on FIRB advice – to prevent a Chinese company lifting its stake in a Western Australian lithium miner.
Senator Farrell said: “If national security or national interests are involved, countries do make decisions to reject some – very few – investments. And, of course, we reserve the right to do that.”
The Trade Minister said he would also deflect any Chinese push for special treatment to gain entry to the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal, saying its application to join the trading bloc would be considered in due course and would require the support of all members.
Australia and Japan are considered unlikely to agree to China’s bid to join the “high-quality” trading agreement, given its record of economic coercion and flouting of World Trade Organisation rules.
China and Taiwan are among a number of economies seeking to join the bloc, whose members recently agreed to admit Britain.
“(China is) entitled to make an application and that application will be dealt with as it has with the UK. That’s what I will be saying,” Senator Farrell said.
He said Australia’s trade relationship with China was a “paradoxical” one, noting the value of two-way trade was almost $300bn, “and yet we have this $20bn worth of trade impediments”.
Australian barley, wine, meat, crayfish, coal, copper and timber exports, among others, have been blocked or heavily curbed by China for about three years.
China has eased some of the bans, and said it would review its barley tariffs in an agreement that could provide a template to resolve the impasse over wine.
Senator Farrell said Australia had made it clear it wanted the “impediments removed” to allow bilateral trade to resume in line with WTO rules. He said that would not be achieved with one visit but he hoped the long-running trade blockages would be “on a pathway to resolution” by the end of the year.
Improving the nations’ trade relations would underpin a broader stabilisation of Australia-China ties and support “peace in our region”, Senator Farrell said.
Additional reporting: Will Glasgow
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