Australian high-level delegation to visit China offers opportunities

During the week, I will be leading an Australian delegation to Beijing to co-chair the annual Australia-China high-level dialogue.

This provides an opportunity to further strengthen the relationship between our two countries.

The dialogue, which began in 2014, was suspended in 2020 but resumed in 2023. This is my third year as co-chair.

The Australian side of the 2025 dialogue will comprise 16 delegates representing such diverse interests as farming, the energy transition, iron ore mining, the National Museum of Australia, youth, academia, the media and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Our counterparts will be senior Chinese officials, and leading business, cultural and academic figures, as was the case at last year’s dialogue in the Adelaide Hills and in the previous year in Beijing.

China’s delegation will be led by former foreign minister Li Zhaoxing.

It will include; Wang Chao, president of the Chinese People’s Institute of Foreign Affairs and member of the standing committee of the National People’s Congress, Cui Tiankai, former ambassador to the US, Zhang Junsai, former ambassador to Australia, Chen Xiaogong, former deputy commander of air force of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army and senior representatives from business, universities and the National Centre for Climate Change.

This week’s dialogue follows a successful recent visit to China by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

It represents a continuity in approach by the Australian government of disciplined diplomacy. Dialogue between governments and dialogue such as this week’s help us understand each other’s perspective better, find areas of cooperation and navigate differences.

The diverse composition of the Australian delegation reflects the breadth of actual and potential cooperation with China.

A few decades ago, after China’s opening to the world, Australia-China cooperation was mainly in minerals and some agriculture. Now we are working together on such diverse engagements as university education, renewable energy, safe, clean, premium food, health and the arts.

Australia and China have big stakes in how the steel industry decarbonises – it’s a major source of emissions, Australia is China’s biggest supplier of iron ore, and China is the world’s biggest steelmaker.

Prime Minister Albanese and Premier Li Qiang in July announced a steel decarbonisation policy dialogue would be established. This will be a topic of discussion this week – it is important we work together to address this shared challenge.

Leaders also announced a review of the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement (ChAFTA), which turns 10 this year. Our two governments will seek views from industry and the community on whether and how to improve the agreement.

Nevertheless, areas of disagreement remain and will be discussed. But the dialogue helps ensure that our relationship is not defined only by those differences.

It provides an opportunity to talk directly with representatives of the Chinese system on bilateral and regional challenges in a candid and constructive manner.

The last two dialogues have been courteous, but on occasions quite robust. This helps build understanding of each other’s perspective, even if one side or the other doesn’t agree with it.

For instance, freedom of navigation was a topic attracting vigorous exchanges at last year’s dialogue. This didn’t prevent us from then moving onto less-contentious topics on which the discussion was more convivial.

The participation in the dialogue of former Howard government minister Warwick Smith, who will lead one of the sessions, will add a level of bipartisanship to the Australian delegation.

The Australia-China relationship has improved during the tenure of the present Australian government, an outcome of the diplomacy of Albanese, Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Trade Minister Don Farrell.

All impediments imposed by China on Australian exports in the early 2020s have since been removed.

Australia was one of the founders of the global rules-based trading system in 1948 and initiated APEC in 1989. Next year, China will host APEC. During the visit to China, I will meeting separately with senior Chinese APEC officials to discuss China’s year.