Prime Minister Anthony Albanese arrived in Shanghai on July 12, starting a 6-day visit to three Chinese cities. On July 13, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese met with Shanghai Party Secretary Tran Te Ninh, the first meeting in a series of high-level exchanges, including meetings with General Secretary and President of China Xi Jinping, Prime Minister Li Qiang and National Assembly Chairman Zhao Liyee.
Australia wishes to strengthen substantive cooperation and promote sustainable development of bilateral relations with China, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said in Shanghai. Canberra hopes to further strengthen economic and trade cooperation, while promoting green and low-carbon development, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told Tran Te Ninh City Party Secretary.
City Party Secretary Tran Te Ninh welcomed Australian companies to invest in Shanghai, China's second largest city.
"One in four Australian jobs depend on free and fair trade. Our largest export partner is China. Cooperating with China is for our own benefit, to build a stable and safe region," Prime Minister Anthony Albanese affirmed.
Speaking in Shanghai on July 14 at a meeting between Australian iron and steel companies and Chinese steel producers, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said that Australia and China should cooperate more closely on green steel - a metal produced from renewable energy such as hydrogen to limit or eliminate the use of coal and reduce carbon emissions. Prime Minister Albanese also proposed cooperation with China to reduce the country's excess capacity in the steel industry.
During his visit to China, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese stopped in Shanghai, Beijing and Chengdu, respectively. He called the visit "another testament to the good relationship" between the two countries. Leading a "very large corporate delegation" to China shows the importance of economic relations between Australia and China, the Australian Prime Minister affirmed.
During his trip, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is expected to meet with representatives in the fields of entrepreneurship, tourism and sports in Shanghai and Chengdu, including attending a roundtable for CEOs on July 15 in Beijing and attending an international supply chain exhibition organized by China. Anthony Albanese also witnessed the signing of a deal between China's major online travel agency Trip.com and the Australian Tourism Bureau (tourism Australia) to attract more Chinese tourists to the country.
This is Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's second visit to China since his leader's left-wing Labor government took power in Australia in 2022.
In a commentary on July 12, Chinese state news agency Xinhua described the relationship between China and Australia as steadily improving and having new momentum. "There is no fundamental conflict of interest between China and Australia. When handling differences in the spirit of mutual respect and focusing on common interests, both sides can develop prosperously and benefit each other" - the luan emphasized.