Aussie trade minister to attend expo in China

MELBOURNE: Australia’s trade minister will travel to China in a sign that political tensions between the two countries may be easing.

Simon Birmingham, the first senior Australian government official to visit China in a year, will attend the China International Import Expo, or CIEE, seen as an attempt by Beijing to allay foreign concern about its trade practices.

Relations between Australia and the world’s No. 2 economy have been at low ebb over accusations of China’s influence in Australia’s media, universities and politics and its use of loans to build leverage over poorer South Pacific island nations.

In August, Australia banned Huawei Technologies Co Ltd from supplying equipment for a 5G mobile network citing national security risks, a move the Chinese telecoms gear maker criticised as being “politically motivated”.

China, however, remains Australia’s top goods and services trading partner, accounting for 24%, or A$183.4bil (RM551bil), of total trade in 2017, according to data from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Birmingham said in a statement yesterday that Australia’s “high-level” delegation, which includes representation from state and territory governments, “reflects our ongoing commitment to our relationship with China”.

The minister’s press office would not immediately comment on whether Birmingham would meet with any senior Chinese officials on his trip to Shanghai.