Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will get a chance to add more warmth to a thawing relationship with China when Premier Li Qiang arrives for a four-day visit.
Mr. Li, who is second only to Chinese leader Xi Jinping in the Beijing pecking order, will arrive in Adelaide on June 15 and is undertaking the first trip to Australia by a Chinese premier in seven years.
He is expected to engage in panda diplomacy by extending the loan of Wang Wang and Fu Ni, described by the city’s zoo as Australia’s “only breeding pair” of the globally-loved animal.
The pandas have not procreated, leading to concerns about their fate.
Mr. Li will also meet with winemakers, who are likely to raise a glass to the premier after China lifted restrictions on Australian wine.
Beijing has gradually dropped bans on exports with less than $1 billion (US$0.66 billion) worth of trade restrictions remaining, on rock lobsters and two meatworks.
Australia China Business Council president David Olsson has been involved in six months of political and business discussions ahead of the visit.
“I’m looking forward to positive outcomes,” he said.
“We won’t see any major reshaping of the relationship, but we will see a framework developed for further conversations and dialogue around points of interest.
“There are also high expectations we will see the removal of the remaining trade restrictions.”
While the lobster farmers—whose revenue halved, hitting livelihoods and forcing business sales—may join the winemakers in a glass or two, clouds hang over the broader relationship.
The imprisonment of Australian writer Yang Hengjun, who received a suspended death sentence in February and remains in jail, and the targeting of Australian residents by Hong Kong authorities are thorny points.
So too are the growing number of incidents between the countries’ militaries as China’s powers grow and its influence in the Pacific region expands.
The opposition has warned the prime minister not to go easy on Mr. Li.
Companies are also looking for an easing of visa restrictions.
The commodities that Australia exports to China produce the steel, copper and aluminium that form the backbone of its economy, adding an important dimension to relations.
Those commodities in their production and use are said to fuel global warming and that is an area where companies see opportunity.
Both nations are going through a similar seismic shift in their economies, Mr. Olsson noted, referring to Mr. Albanese’s signature Future Made in Australia initiative and to the global energy transition.
Though there are security concerns with Chinese investment in sensitive industries, there’s plenty of scope for co-operation and profit.
There have been long discussions at senior political and business levels on collaboration on renewable energy and other areas that China leads in, such as batteries and electric vehicles.
Mr. Li will travel to Canberra for talks with the prime minister on June 17 before finishing his visit in Perth.
Mr. Albanese will be keen to drum up more business from the nation’s biggest trading partner to keep the base of the relationship intact, while managing the geopolitical elements of China’s growth and projection of power.
As Mr. Olsson says, “China is not going away.”
