Chinese premier highlights complementary economic strengths in China-Australia relations

CANBERRA, June 19 (Xinhua) -- Although a distant country beyond the ocean, Australia is close to Chinese people's daily life with its high-quality produce such as wine, beef and dairy.

On Tuesday, Chinese Premier Li Qiang concluded his official visit to Australia. When attending the 7th China-Australia CEO Roundtable with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Li emphasized that China and Australia benefit from each other's development and are a close community of shared interests.

The two countries enjoy complementary economic strengths and are natural partners for cooperation.

Since 2009, China has been Australia's largest trading partner, export market and import source for 15 consecutive years. In 2023, bilateral trade in goods increased 4.1 percent year by year, while Australian investment in China increased 11.7 percent compared to the previous year, and the number of Australian-funded enterprises established in China surged by 40.2 percent.

China-Australia economic and trade cooperation should be placed in the context of comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries, and it is necessary to view it from a comprehensive and strategic perspective to better grasp the general trend, Li said.

The Chinese premier called on entrepreneurs of both countries to deepen cooperation in traditional fields, and also urged them to expand their cooperation into new areas, such as artificial intelligence, quantum technology, life sciences and other future industries.

In this way, the two countries will make the pie of bilateral win-win cooperation even bigger, and strengthen exchanges and cooperation in a wide range of areas.

"Economic complementarity lies at the heart of the bilateral relationship. A focus on areas of common beneficial interest is conducive to a positive atmosphere for dialogue to continue to broaden and enhance bilateral relations," said Warwick Powell, adjunct professor at the Queensland University of Technology and a senior fellow at Taihe Institute.

"There's also a large amount of knowhow that's being developed in China, ranging from renewable energy solutions, new materials, biotechnology, healthcare and nutrition solutions to name a few, that can benefit Australian enterprises, researchers and consumers," he said.

"The economies of China and Australia are highly complementary, and economic and trade cooperation with China has brought tangible benefits to Australia," said Chen Hong, president of the Chinese Association for Australian Studies.

Li also stressed China's plans to comprehensively deepen reform and steadily expand institutional opening-up, and as China's business environment gets better and better, all entrepreneurs are encouraged to seize the opportunity and work together to achieve more fruitful results in development and cooperation.

He noted that bilateral cooperation enjoys broad prospects and is an important force for stabilizing industrial and supply chains and boosting economic growth.

Li further illustrated the viewpoint during his visit to Tianqi Lithium Kwinana Pty Ltd and Fortescue Future Industries (FFI) in the Australian city of Perth on Tuesday.

China and Australia can jointly build competitive industrial and supply chains in the new energy sector, he said.

Both sides could leverage their complementary advantages and tap into their respective potentials to build competitive new energy industrial and supply chains as China's new energy vehicle and lithium battery industries possess technical expertise while Australia is rich in lithium and other critical minerals, he added.

"In fact, most household products, including Chinese-made vehicles, are now welcome in Australia," said Chen, adding that there is still much more space for cooperation between China and Australia, including in green energy.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of Chinese President Xi Jinping's state visit to the Oceanian country and the establishment of the China-Australia comprehensive strategic partnership.

Although bilateral relations experienced twists and turns in the past decade, with the joint efforts of both sides, Beijing-Canberra ties have returned to the right track of steady and sound development, showing a positive momentum of continuous improvement.

During the ninth China-Australia Annual Leaders' Meeting with Albanese on Monday, Li stressed the importance of maintaining and developing the current hard-won positive momentum of bilateral relations.

The essential characteristics of China-Australia relations are mutual benefit and win-win cooperation, and the development of China and Australia is an opportunity rather than a challenge to each other, Li said.

When speaking of bilateral ties in the past decade, Li said that the most important experience and inspiration is to uphold mutual respect and mutually beneficial cooperation, and seek common ground while shelving differences.

Li also said in his meeting with Albanese that China is ready to work with Australia to build a more mature, stable and fruitful China-Australia comprehensive strategic partnership to better benefit the two peoples.

The Chinese premier's visit has brightened the prospects of future development, said Guo Shengxiang, director of the Australian Innovation Institute of Finance and Technology. "Premier Li's visit brought transformative positive energy to a world experiencing huge changes, providing solid hope and relief," Guo said.

After the meeting between Li and Albanese, a series of fruitful joint outcomes in bilateral ties and pragmatic cooperation was achieved, including plans to resume the Strategic Economic Dialogue in 2024 and to convene the next Annual Leaders' Meeting in 2025, visa agreements, and signature of MoUs on education and research, climate change and cultural exchange, among others.

Cooperation on giant pandas conservation was also a major outcome of the visit.

Australia hosts the only pair of giant pandas, Wang Wang and Fu Ni, in the Southern Hemisphere. In 2009, they traveled from southwest China's Sichuan Province to Adelaide Zoo, and have since resided in their "Australian Panda Home."

The zoo, where the two countries have been closely collaborating on panda protection and research, was the first stop of Li's official visit to Australia on Sunday.

So long as both sides cherish it, the cooperation between China and Australia can cross the vast Pacific Ocean, transcend differences, and achieve mutual achievements and win-win results, Li said.

Li said that China will provide a new pair of giant pandas to Adelaide Zoo later this year and continue bilateral cooperation with Australia on panda protection.

The new pair of giant pandas will be equally beautiful and lovely, and will surely be welcomed by Australian people as well, said Li.

Li is on a three-nation tour from June 13 to 20, which has taken him to New Zealand and Australia. He is currently on an official visit to Malaysia.