Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of Australia arrived in China on Saturday for a six-day visit spanning Beijing, Shanghai and Chengdu, multiple media outlets report. The trip is expected to have a strong focus on business relations between the two countries, and Albanese is accompanied by an Australian business delegation.
Former Australian foreign minister Bob Carr recently said that strengthening relations with Beijing was in Australia’s national interest, particularly as Washington was alienating its partners through hostile trade policies.
Carr noted that many Asian countries were “tilting” away from the US and towards China. “Expect more US partners and allies to do the same,” he said. “And if China is smart, they will make it easy for them.”
China is Australia’s biggest trade partner, accounting for almost a third of two-way trade. Albanese has said he intended for this status quo to remain for the “foreseeable future” and that “the relationship in China means jobs in Australia.”
Albanese is also focussed on boosting the flow of Chinese tourists to his country and toured the online travel booking platform Trip.com’s Shanghai headquarters on Sunday, where he oversaw the signing of a memorandum of understanding between Trip.com and Tourism Australia. Chinese citizens made up a quarter of all Australia’s tourists in the first quarter of 2025.
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Chen Hong, a professor and director of the Australian Studies Center at East China Normal University, told the Global Times that increased tourism wasn’t just good for Australia’s economy, but was “an asset for mutual understanding, trust-building, and cooperation, ultimately fostering mutual benefits.”
Albanese himself spoke of the importance of people-to-people exchanges on Sunday, while strolling Shanghai’s historic Bund promenade with the Australian coach of Shanghai Port FC, Kevin Muscat – formerly in Australia’s national men’s soccer team, the Socceroos.
The Prime Minister is scheduled to meet with President Xi Jinping later in the week.
In the lead-up to second official visit to the country, Albanese said that his government would “continue to cooperate with China where we can, disagree where we must, and engage in our national interest.” The Labour Party leader was re-elected in May.
