President Xi Jinping told Prime Minister Anthony Albanese during their G20 meeting that they should “maintain with the greatest care” the revived economic relations between their two nations. The Chinese leader has made clear he hopes for greater investment access to Australia as the price to pay for ending the three-year trade ban on our exports.

Xi called for “a fair, transparent and non-discriminatory business environment for Chinese companies.” It’s a sign of Beijing’s dissatisfaction with tighter control of Chinese investments in sensitive areas like farmland, agro-industry, media and telecommunications, and past blocking of Chinese bids for critical infrastructure like energy transport. Albanese says he will continue to defend the national interest, even as our economic ties with China improve.

Loading…