Sweet and sour in Beijing: PM’s China trip bears fruit
Source: AAP
Sweet and tangy jujubes could soon be on the way to Australian shelves as part of a broadened trade pact with China.
The agreement was one of six signed by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Chinese Premier Li Qiang on Tuesday as Australia and China sought to boost business links while US President Donald Trump upends the global trade order.
Jujubes, a small apple-like fruit, will be exported to Australia while apples from the Australian mainland will be allowed to be exported to China for the first time.
The pair signed another four memoranda of understanding as Albanese met the highest-ranking Chinese leaders — President Xi Jinping, Premier Li and Chairman Zhao Leji — in the centrepiece of his six-day visit to China.
Australia and China must deepen economic co-operation given increasing trade frictions elsewhere, Li said after a lavish welcome in Beijing’s Great Hall of the People.
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“In recent years, co-operation has encountered headwinds,” he said, adding it was hard to find two countries with more complementary economies than Australia and China.
Albanese echoed the comments.
“My government believes unequivocally in free and fair trade as a driver of global growth, and I know the discussions that we’ve had today have been very constructive,” he said.
Australians will soon be able to enjoy Chinese jujubes. Photo: eBay
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But the relationship is not without its challenges.
Beijing has chafed at Australia’s stringent foreign investment regime as it affects Chinese businesses.
Li said China would protect the rights of foreign businesses and treat them according to law, in an oblique reference to Australian plans to tear up a Chinese-owned company’s lease of the Port of Darwin.
“I trust Australia will treat Chinese enterprise fairly and properly resolve issues regarding market access and investment review,” he told a gathering of Australian and Chinese business leaders.
Li and Albanese also signed an agreement to kickstart a review of the 10-year-old free trade agreement between the two nations.
Collaboration on steel decarbonisation, increasing tourism links and paperless certification of agriculture products were also broached at the meeting.
Albanese will visit the Great Wall on Wednesday before flying out to Chengdu in the south-western province of Sichuan — known as the home of the giant panda.
-AAP
