State Premiers in line to visit China

Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has confirmed she will visit China later this year after similar trips by her Victorian and West Australian counterparts.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk joins P&O to celebrate 90 years of cruising, Pacific Encounter, Pinkenba. Picture: Liam Kidston

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk is planning an official trip to China later this year, following in the footsteps of her Victorian and Western Australian counterparts.

Ms Palaszczuk’s office confirmed in a statement on Sunday that plans were under way for the trip, possibly in November, to China, which is Queensland’s largest trading partner.

WA Premier Mark McGowan also announced a five-day trip to China on Sunday, which begins on April 17, to “reconnect” with Chinese leaders.

Mark McGowan. Picture: Philip Gostelow

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews, the first Australian government leader to visit China since the pandemic began, returned on Saturday from a four-day trip, which drew criticism after he failed to invite media or organise a delegation of business representatives for the visit.

Mr Andrews’s office did not make announcements about the trip until it was contacted by journalists.

When asked if Ms Palaszczuk would invite media to accompany her to China, her office said in the statement: “Media are welcome to attend.”

“Queensland celebrates more than 30 years of its Sister State relationship with Shanghai this year,” the statement said. “The Premier has said she would look at increasing our trade later and may visit China in November.”

Ms Palaszczuk has visited China several times since she took power in 2015, and last week in Brisbane met with Beijing’s ambassador, Xiao Qian, who invited the Queensland Premier for a return trip.

Premier Daniel Andrews arrives at Melbourne airport after returning from a visit to China. Picture: David Geraghty

“My take is that she is very positive about future visits, and we talked about the Olympics,” said Mr Xiao. “China wants to contribute to a successful Olympics in Brisbane.”

Mr McGowan will also allow reporters on his upcoming trip.

Like Queensland, China is WA’s largest trading partner. Mr McGowan’s trip will involve “high-level meetings with key central government and industry leaders” to support trade and investment in energy, international education and aviation, he said in a statement.

Thirty business leaders from China and Australia will also gather at the Premier’s 5th Annual WA-China Strategic Dialogue on April 19.

“This mission is a great opportunity to reconnect with Chinese leaders – from government to industry – and progress new trade and investment opportunities in a range of sectors,” Mr McGowan said.

At a press conference at Monash University on Sunday, Mr Andrews defended not inviting media along on the tertiary education-focused trip.

“It’s not always the case that the media travels with us and, again, I’m not certain that visas would have been issued,” he said.

“Again, it was back-to-back meetings. It wasn’t a trip to go and do deals and it wasn’t a trip to take 100 businesses or nine or 10 vice-chancellors.

“When you travel to China, you don’t get to interview any of the people I would meet with. That’s just how it works. I’m not saying it was a good thing, or not.”

The Victorian Premier also shed light on his trade mission intinerary, saying he wanted to “send a message that we’re open, that we value the relationship”.

Mr Andrews said he met with the national Education Minister and would establish a working group of senior officials from both countries with a focus on strengthening “postgraduate partnerships”, which would ideally involve more Australian postgraduate students spending time in China.

He said he also met with the Beijing Mayor and visited sister provinces in Jiangsu and Sichuan to set up working groups for the next stage of their relationships post-Covid.

Last month, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he would visit China if invited by Xi Jinping.