Analysts hail turnaround in China-Australia ties

陈小将

The first visit to China by Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese since winning reelection in May signals warming ties and growing prospects for cooperation amid the changing global economy.

According to a media release from the prime minister's office, Albanese's visit was also "an opportunity to continue advancing Australia's security and economic interests".

Following the completion of his official visit to China on Friday, Albanese said the trip "marks another important step in the Australia-China relationship."

"A stable and constructive relationship with China is in Australia's national interest," Albanese said. "Strengthening our security and economic interests with our largest trading partner will boost Australian jobs and support Australian businesses."

Increasingly, people are seeing China's stability as a contrast to an ever more chaotic US, with Albanese's just-completed visit to China confirming that difference for many Australians, said John Queripel, an Australian social commentator and historian based in Newcastle, New South Wales.

A study published by the Pew Research Center on July 15 showed that Australians' preferences regarding economic priorities are changing. When asked whether it was more important for their country to have strong economic ties with the United States or China, the Australians surveyed prioritized ties with China.

According to this year's survey, 53 percent placed more importance on economic ties with China, while 42 percent favored close ties with the US. In 2021, those figures were 39 and 52 percent, respectively.

"Given how frosty Australia-China relations had become under the previous coalition government in Australia, and the continued negative influence of a China-hostile security establishment and much (of the) media in Australia, this is a remarkable turnaround," Queripel said.

According to Queripel, Australians strongly recognize that free trade is crucial to an economy, particularly one as export-oriented as theirs.

Biggest potential

Steven Ducat, founder of SPD Asia Group and a member of the Australian nonprofit organization ChAFTA Forum, said the biggest potential for China-Australia collaboration in emerging fields lies in a reimagining of the economic relationship to adapt to the changing global economy.

"We must move beyond the old model of just selling raw materials and embrace a new era of onshore value-add — where we use Chinese technology and capital to process our resources and build advanced products here in Australia for global markets," Ducat said.

Ducat said the China International Supply Chain Expo, held last week in Beijing, perfectly maps out these opportunities for deep, mutually beneficial collaboration.

"Take digital health chain as an example. The synergy is to combine Australia's trusted clinical environment with China's proven AI platforms, using techniques that guarantee our data sovereignty," he said.

He cited the Chinese government's ongoing Healthy China 2030 Initiative as an example of deploying AI diagnostics at incredible speed and scale.

"What I see in China is the art of the possible. When I see AI delivering a diagnosis in minutes, it's not about preferring one system over another; it's about a passionate belief that we must bring this same lifesaving capability home to Australia," Ducat said.