Australian Prime Minister's Visit to China, China and Australia Take New Steps

Albanese stated that the regions where Australia and China are located have developed faster than any other region in human history. Maintaining contact is beneficial for both Australia and the region, and the complementarity of the two countries' economies injects vitality into Australia China relations.

There has been an improvement in trade between the two sides

China is Australia's largest trading partner, but after the conservative Australian government previously banned Chinese technology giant Huawei from participating in 5G contracts and demanded an investigation into the source of COVID-19, the relationship between the two countries sharply declined in 2020. With the deep freeze in bilateral relations, China imposed punitive tariffs on a range of Australian goods from coal, barley, to wine at that time.

Since Albanese took office in May last year, both countries have been seeking to adjust their relationship. On October 20th, the review results of the Darwin Port lease in Australia were released, stating that after considering national security interests, it was deemed unnecessary to modify or cancel the 1999 Darwin Port operating lease of Chinese private enterprise Landbridge Group. He also stated that Australia and China have agreed to suspend trade disputes, and China will conduct a rapid review of Australian wine tariffs.

With China lifting restrictions on Australian imports, Albanese and the Chinese leadership had more constructive discussions and delivered a brief speech at the opening ceremony of the China International Import Expo in Shanghai on November 5th, stating that building a bilateral relationship based on dialogue and cooperation is in the interests of both Australia and China.

Helping China Join the CPTPP

In September 2021, China and Taiwan announced their formal application to join the CPTPP, but it requires unanimous support from Australia, Japan, and other member states. The possibility of Albanese's China exercising support for China's membership in the Cross Pacific Partnership for Comprehensive Progress (CPTPP) has become greater, which poses risks and opportunities. Both Japan and the United States are concerned that Beijing may use its membership in CPTPP to strengthen China's dominant position in global business.

The Australian newspaper pointed out that Albanese stated during his visit to China that if any country wants to join the CPTPP, it needs to demonstrate high trade standards. Premier Li Qiang of the State Council recently emphasized his stance against unilateralism and protectionism, vowing to promote international consensus and rules, which also marks a significant change in China's attitude towards countries such as Australia after years of trade bans.

AUKUS and QUAD are nodules in the Australia-China relationship

The previous conflict between China and Australia has brought Australia closer to its democratic partners led by the United States, including the Five Eyes Alliance for Intelligence Sharing, the US UK Australia Security Alliance (AUKUS), and the US Japan Australia India Quadripartite Dialogue Mechanism (QUAD).

The two organizations, AUKUS and QUAD, present a dual track arrangement model, with AUKUS responsible for military security and QUAD focusing on cooperation at the levels of technology, supply chain, healthcare, and politics. Due to the changing international situation, this clear division of labor has attracted other Indo Pacific countries to participate in QUAD, mainly in the field of technology.

Collins, Chief Researcher at the Australian China Relations Institute at the University of Sydney, believes that regardless of the content and division of labor between AUKUS and QUAD, China will continue to oppose them, and Albanese fully supports these two organizations, making them a structural issue in Australia China relations, which will limit the development of bilateral relations within a certain scope.