There is little doubt that China-Australia trade relations are of critical importance
But while the PM toured China, the real supply chain deals were happening without us.
The recent second visit to China of our Prime Minister was described as “very successful”-and the underlying tone reflected both sides’ shared interest in advancing a more stable, constructive bilateral relationship following years of diplomatic turbulence.
But what did the recent trip by Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese achieve?
According to internal Chinese media China Briefing.
The two countries released a joint outcomes statement that outlined a broad agenda for cooperation.
The Joint Outcomes Statement, issued reaffirmed both governments’ commitment to stable and constructive engagement. Key outcomes spanned trade, investment, people-to-people links, and multilateral cooperation. Highlights include:
- Trade and economic cooperation
- Political dialogue and multilateral cooperation
- Emerging business opportunities
- Green energy and green minerals
- Artificial intelligence: Joint innovation platforms
- Healthcare and biopharma: Joint R&D and market access
- Future outlook: Toward a pragmatic and resilient partnership
Prime Minister Albanese’s 2025 visit to China came at a symbolic and strategic juncture, marking the beginning of the second decade of the China-Australia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, first established in 2014. The visit built on the momentum from his historic 2023 trip, which effectively ended a seven-year diplomatic freeze and signaled a reset in bilateral relations.
China has remained Australia’s largest trading partner for 16 consecutive years, accounting for nearly one-third of Australia’s total trade. According to the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, two-way trade reached almost A$312 billion in 2024. Since the implementation of the ChAFTA in 2015, bilateral trade has seen remarkable growth, despite political headwinds.
But joint statements aside, how do Australian businesses and indeed, our other trading partners perceive the visit and view the outcomes of discussions?
While Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s recent tour of China delivered pandas and apples, the architecture of the global net-zero transformation was being forged without him at the 3rd China International Supply Chain Expo in Beijing. Delegations from 75 other nations came to invest and engage. Present were China’s Vice Premier, He Lifeng, one of the world’s most powerful economic policymakers. NVIDIA’s Jensen Huang, leader of the global AI revolution, wasn’t there just to address delegates on AI; he was there to secure his company’s future in its most vital market. And Ren Hongbin, Chairman of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade and architect of this global supply chain push, was orchestrating it all.
Filling the vacuum left by Australia’s absence, South Africa’s Deputy President, Paul Mashatile, was celebrated as the Guest of Honour. He wasn’t touring; he was signing the very ‘mineral beneficiation’ deals that should be making Australia indispensable. Our direct competitor, with a similar critical minerals profile, was actively capturing investment that now flows to South African shores, not Australia’s.
South Africa got the minerals deal. Australia got the photo-op. That’s what happens when strategy lags diplomacy.
This was more than a missed photo-op; it was a failure of strategic statecraft.
While Australia’s leaders talk up entering ‘future-oriented sectors’, our global peers are acting. They are forging ahead, signing the government-backed deals that will secure their future prosperity by locking into China’s 15th Five-Year Plan. In Europe, many top players in the auto industry are adapting to an electrifying future by partnering with leading Chinese technology firms. In Spain, automaker Stellantis is partnering with CATL to build a €4.1 billion battery plant. In France, President Macron personally inaugurated AESC’s new battery gigafactory to supply Renault’s EVs. Hungary will host both BYD’s first European factory and R&D headquarters. They are claiming their seats at the table while we are still debating the menu.
The government’s ambition for Future Made in Australia (FMiA) is the right one, but it will fail so long as the primary roadblock remains our own front door: the Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB). While our competitors roll out the red carpet, we are possibly turning away the very capital we need to become a renewable energy superpower.
The ‘policy dialogue on steel decarbonisation’ announced by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Treasurer Jim Chalmers’ comments on streamlining foreign investment are welcome, but timid, first steps. Talking will not win us the gigafactories, green metals refineries or R&D centres that sit at the heart of a future truly made in Australia. As Smart Energy Council CEO John Grimes pointed out in his recent National Press Club address, if the global race to a net-zero economy were a marathon, China started an hour ago.
The race is happening now. The words of former Chilean Minister Jorge Heine have never been more compelling: “either you are at the table or you are on the menu.”
A strategic nation pulls up a chair.
To talk, but fail to act, would squarely put Australia on the menu. The choice is that simple. And it must be made now.
We urgently need a paradigm shift to adapt to not only the new trade order and the economic heft of emerging Asia, including China, India and ASEAN, a region expected to contribute 60% of global economic growth this year, but also to the wider global trade opportunities in the wake of the US trade tariffs.
Failure to act at this critical time risks not just global irrelevance but a decline in our living standards.
Sue Tomic
SCLAA Chair | Board Advisor – Institute of Transport & Logistics Studies, University of Sydney Business School
Download