China investment rules in Australia rebuked by Premier Li Qiang

Published 18 hours ago• 4 minute read

he had conveyed to Xi that Australia supported Taiwan’s current position. The island is a self-governing democratic island of more than 23 million people that maintains informal diplomatic-style ties to Australia. China considers Taiwan to be part of the country’s territory.

“You’re trying to quote a Chinese readout that I haven’t seen,” he said at a press conference on Wednesday in response to a question about his reported position. “What we do is continue to support a one-China policy. We support the status quo. By definition. We don’t support any unilateral action on Taiwan.”

The status quo, in Australia’s view, is that Taiwan should not declare independence unilaterally and China should not retake the island without negotiations.

The prime minister’s comments were made on a visit to the Great Wall, significant as a symbol of China’s ancient roots and military power.

“I have the sense of history following in the footsteps of the Labor prime minister Gough Whitlam, who was the first prime minister to visit here in 1973,” Albanese said. “We are literally standing on history.”

On Wednesday, with fiancee Jodie Haydon alongside him, Albanese made special mention of the suburbs of Bankstown in Sydney and Box Hill in Melbourne, both of which have big Chinese diaspora populations.

While Albanese was touring Beijing a day earlier, Russia’s foreign minister Sergey Lavrov was also in the city. Asked whether Australia’s strategy of engaging with China through trade despite security issues was repeating Europe’s approach before Russia invaded Ukraine, Albanese said the situations were different.

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“I don’t think you can translate one thing across some other part of the world of which Australia is not a participant,” Albanese said. He argued Australia’s ties with China went beyond trade to dialogue at summits and personal links.

Xi and Russian President Vladimir Putin have previously declared a “no-limits” partnership between the nations, and China has been accused of assisting Russia’s war effort in Ukraine.

Asked about China’s relationship with Russia and the war in Ukraine, Albanese affirmed support for Ukraine and spoke in general terms about global conflict without addressing China’s relationship with Russia.

“Our position on Ukraine is consistent, is clear [and] is advocated publicly and privately,” Albanese said. “We’ll continue to provide support for Ukraine.”

Albanese was speaking a day after meeting with Chinese leaders, including Premier Li Qiang, who redoubled his demands for Australia to loosen its rules on foreign investment, warning Albanese that companies from the superpower expect fair treatment.

Chinese direct investment in Australia has slowed in recent years due to national security concerns about overseas influence in critical industries such as infrastructure and resources.

Chinese Premier Li Qiang and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese inspect troops before their formal meeting on Tuesday night.Credit: Dominic Lorrimer

China has been pushing to lower the barriers to entry mandated by Australia’s Foreign Investment Review Board, which can block attempts at investment or reverse them, such as an order last year to push China-linked investors out of a critical minerals company in WA.

After the pair inspected Chinese troops dressed in immaculate dress uniforms, Li told a business roundtable attended by Albanese on Tuesday night that China was seeking fairness.

“I trust that Australia will also treat Chinese enterprises fairly and also properly resolve the issues [of] market access and review,” he said.

According to figures from consultancy KPMG and the University of Sydney, Chinese investment in Australia increased from $US613 million in 2023 to $US862 million in 2024.

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That is still significantly lower than 2008, when it reached $US16.2 billion, or even as recently as 2017, when it was $US10 billion.

Against a backdrop of US President Donald Trump’s mercurial tariff policies, Li positioned China as a force of stability in an unstable world.

“We hope that you will embrace openness and co-operation, no matter how the world changes,” Li said.

“The development of all countries is faced with new challenges. Given such circumstances, China and Australia, as important trade partners, should strengthen dialogue and co-operation.”

Treasurer Jim Chalmers was noncommittal when asked last week about China’s wish to speed up foreign investment reviews.

In their meetings with Albanese, neither Li nor Xi raised the sale of the Port of Darwin. The Albanese government in April said it will make the port’s Chinese owner sell for national security reasons.

However, the Global Times, another state-owned Chinese media outlet, made clear the forced sale was an issue for Beijing.

“At present, there are specific issues between China and Australia that need to be discussed, such as the lease of Darwin Port and the expansion of the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement,” the paper wrote in an editorial. It also said there were practical issues, such as things becoming politicised, and “interference from third parties”.

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