Australian Treasurer Jim Chalmers has been in China on a landmark visit to stabilize his country’s relationship with its biggest trading partner.
The trip, the first by an Australian treasurer to Beijing in seven years, is a sign that bilateral ties are improving after years of mistrust.
But frictions persist, including tensions in the South China Sea.
Chalmers’ two-day trip to China has been aimed at repairing ties with Australia’s largest trading partner, damaged by disagreements over trade and geopolitics.
In Beijing, Chalmers has discussed boosting economic ties with his Chinese hosts.
The Australian treasurer has been upbeat about prospects for the Chinese economy, despite its recent slowdown.
He told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. Monday that Canberra and Beijing can do more to boost trade.
“There could not have been a more important time for us to restart our strategic economic dialogue with China,” he said. “The Chinese authorities announced some quite substantial steps when it comes to supporting growth in the Chinese economy.”
Last week, China said it carried out a rare test launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile into international waters, prompting anger in neighboring countries.
Defense officials in Beijing insisted the test firing that involved a dummy warhead was a “routine” part of its “annual training.”
Chalmers said Friday that he had voiced his concerns about the launch to Chinese government officials.
Australia’s shadow foreign affairs minister Simon Birmingham told local media that the Canberra government must continue to urge Beijing to show restraint.
The message of regional and global stability, and the role China can play by not undertaking aggressive military postures in the South China Sea, is important for the economy, Birmingham said.
Australia’s center-left government has made the stabilization of ties with China a priority since it came to power in May 2022.
But it must balance its key commercial relationship with China with growing security ties with its traditional allies.
The Canberra government says the AUKUS nuclear-powered submarine pact is “on track” and will “endure for decades” after a meeting of Australian, American and British defense ministers in London last Thursday.
The 2021 trilateral accord is considered by analysts to be a response to China’s growing assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific region. It will give Australia the technology and hardware to build, run and maintain nuclear-powered submarines.
Beijing has insisted the security pact undermines peace and stability.
