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China-Australia relations

China-Australia relations
Breaking news and analysis on China-Australia relations, including trade and investment and the impact of wider issues such as the US-China trade war and South China Sea.
Open Questions series

Susan Thornton on US-China ties, post-midterms and averting a new balloon crisis

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Illustration: Lau Ka-kuen

Wu Shicun on why Beijing will not rule out Scarborough Shoal construction

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Illustration: Victor Sanjinez

Zheng Yongnian on what US’ ‘neocolonialism’, Venezuela operation mean for China

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Illustration: Victor Sanjinez

Liu Qian on Chinese innovation, the US rivalry and women holding up half the sky

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Illustration: Victor Sanjinez Garcia

Fuchsia Dunlop tells how she fell for China’s cuisine and names her perfect dish

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Illustration: Lau Ka-kuen

80 years on from WWII, China’s interests lie in peaceful Asia-Pacific: Mitter

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Illustration: Lau Ka-kuen

Susan Thornton on US-China ties, post-midterms and averting a new balloon crisis

videocam
Illustration: Lau Ka-kuen

Wu Shicun on why Beijing will not rule out Scarborough Shoal construction

videocam
28
Illustration: Victor Sanjinez

Zheng Yongnian on what US’ ‘neocolonialism’, Venezuela operation mean for China

videocam
13
Illustration: Victor Sanjinez

Liu Qian on Chinese innovation, the US rivalry and women holding up half the sky

7
Illustration: Victor Sanjinez Garcia

Fuchsia Dunlop tells how she fell for China’s cuisine and names her perfect dish

videocam
5
Illustration: Lau Ka-kuen

80 years on from WWII, China’s interests lie in peaceful Asia-Pacific: Mitter

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18
Illustration: Lau Ka-kuen
MORE FROM THIS SERIES
Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (second right) joins leaders from (from left) Tuvalu, Solomon Islands and East Timor for the Pacific Pre-COP31 Summit in Funafuti, Tuvalu, on October 6. Photo: AFP
Australia

Australia commits US$44 million to boost East Timor’s cyber, maritime security

Australia has recently struck defence and economic agreements with Pacific nations designed to limit China’s security role.

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Chinese culture

Australia returns Buddha statue to China amid lasting mystery over its origins

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China-Latin America relations

Brazil’s beef exporters hit a wall in China as 55% tariff kicks in

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United States

Will Australia be locked out of top research by shunning Chinese universities?

Observers say Canberra is starting to align with Washington on security policy after it cut partnerships with two institutions from China.

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ANU said it would comply with an order to end its partnership with Shandong University. Photo: Shutterstock
Pacific nations

In Focus | How Pacific nations walk a tightrope between Western security and Chinese trade

As Australia expands defence pacts in the region, Beijing courts local communities with ‘small and beautiful’ aid.

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China trade

What China’s ‘no’ on Australian bean shipment says about trade ties

Incident sparks concern, but indicates China taking a proactive stance, not necessarily a gloomy forecast for relations, experts say.

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Australia

Australian foreign minister defends multiculturalism, attacks far-right

Foreign Minister Penny Wong cited her own experience of moving to Australia from Malaysia, saying the country is ‘more prosperous because of our diversity’.

High school and university students opposed to the policies of Pauline Hanson and her far-right One Nation Party march through Melbourne on Thursday. Photo: dpa
Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong delivers the Allan Gyngell Lecture at the Lowy Institute in Sydney, Australia, on Friday. Photo: Reuters
Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim (centre) and his wife Wan Azizah Ismail (left) react as Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong (right) gets up to speak during an event at Australian National University (ANU) in Canberra on March 7, 2024. Photo: AFP
Canberra

China-Australia relations reach ‘good enough’ baseline, ex-envoy says

Canberra is described as quietly confident in its resilience yet wary of Beijing’s overtures to go further and into new areas of activity.

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Banking & finance

The US helped boost the yen. Can China do the same for the Australian dollar?

Currency traders believe Beijing’s economic policies could give the Australian dollar a boost. Analysts say things are more complex in reality.

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Australia

Australia ramps up Aukus funding with US$3.2 billion for nuclear submarine yard

Aukus, designed to check China’s military advance in the Indo-Pacific, is expected to cost Canberra up to US$250 billion over 30 years.

US Navy officers stand aboard the Virginia-class submarine USS Minnesota docked at HMAS Stirling in Rockingham, Western Australia, on February 26, 2025. Australia aims to acquire at least three US Virginia-class submarines. Photo: AFP
China-Canada relations

Australia raises China’s missile test in meeting with top diplomat Wang Yi

On the sidelines of Asean gathering in Manila, the Chinese foreign minister tells Penny Wong that Canberra should drop its double standards.

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Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong and China’s top diplomat Wang Yi on the sidelines of an Asean meeting in Manila on Tuesday. Photo: Weibo/ 外交部
Pacific nations

Vanuatu bans ‘foreign’ military bases in new security pact with Australia

The treaty is the latest in a string of Pacific deals Australia has signed seeking to curb China’s expanding security influence.

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Australia

China’s direct strike threat to Australia is ‘growing’, think tank report finds

A Lowy Institute report said the main threat to Australia was from Chinese missiles fired from ships, submarines and a new ballistic missile.

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China trade

Australian beef will soon be hit by 55% tariff in China, ministry says

China’s imports of Australian beef are about to surpass a quota introduced by Beijing to protect domestic farmers.

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Farmers look at cattle at a weekly livestock sale in New South Wales, Australia. China is a major export market for Australian beef producers. Photo: AFP
China exports

Australian trade minister to visit China to secure fuel during Iran war crunch

Beijing tightened jet fuel exports after the war broke out, forcing Canberra to seek alternative suppliers.

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Australian Trade Minister Don Farrell attends a press conference following a meeting with Commerce Minister Wang Wentao in May 2023, in Beijing. Photo:
Yuan

How Australia’s mining giants are helping China to globalise the yuan

Mining firms are increasingly using the yuan for financing and settlements, as China pushes to reduce its reliance on the US dollar.

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Australia

China’s fight for Darwin Port could help fragile Sino-Australian relations

Landbridge Group’s legal claim over the port could take several years to resolve, analysts said, providing more time for dialogue.

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Japan

Takaichi bound for Australia to strengthen economic, security ties

The Prime Minister’s three-day visit will focus on defence, critical minerals and broader economic security as Japan takes a more assertive military stance.

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Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi waves as she departs on an official trip to Vietnam and Australia, at Haneda Airport in Tokyo on Friday. Photo: AFP
Australia

Why China’s jet fuel deal with Australia underscores Canberra’s balancing act

Meeting between top diplomats Wang Yi and Penny Wong signals continuing thaw in bilateral relationship after years of diplomatic freeze.

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Yuan

‘Paradigm shift’: is China’s deal with mining giant BHP a global yuan milestone?

The agreement to partly link iron ore pricing to the yuan is a breakthrough but US dollar dominance in the trade remains entrenched for now, analysts say.

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US, Israel war on Iran

‘Neighbours matter’: China, Australia vow more contact amid global tension

Premier Li Qiang says ‘Beijing is willing to import more high-quality Australian products, expand and upgrade bilateral trade’.

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Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (left) and China’s Premier Li Qiang spoke by phone on Tuesday ahead of Li’s planned visit to Australia later this year. Photo: AFP
China's military weapons

Indonesian fisherman nets surprise catch – a Chinese underwater drone

The device was discovered near the Lombok Strait, a strategically vital deepwater passage closely watched by the US and Australia.

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Local police haul the item ashore. Photo: Handout
Mainland China

Australia’s 180-degree shift from 5 years ago: China in favour; US out

Aussie comedian exposes the truth about nation’s feelings towards US president, democracy and public safety.

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Australia

Australia complains to China after encounter between military helicopters

Australia says the Chinese aircraft made an ‘unsafe’ manoeuvre, while China called the statement ‘distortions of facts’.

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Taiwan

Beijing monitors Australian frigate Toowoomba’s passage through Taiwan Strait

Anzac-class frigate ‘conducted a routine transit through the South China Sea’, Australian defence department says.

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A Royal Australian Navy helicopter flies above the HMAS Toowoomba as it sails in the South China Sea. Photo: Handout
China travel

Japan out, Australia in? China’s tourists heading down under for Lunar New Year

Bookings projected to surge on new flights, flexible itineraries and ease of payment.

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Chinese tourists are projected to visit Australia in increasing numbers over the extended Lunar New Year break, with China Trading Desk expecting a 20 per cent increase over the same period in 2025. Photo: Reuters
Indonesia

Australia, Indonesia sign security deal in ‘watershed moment’

Canberra has signed a series of defence, police and aid deals across the Pacific region to try to boost its influence and limit China’s.

Panama

Why China ties make Darwin Port a bigger test for Australia than Panama

Legal constraints and stronger Beijing-Canberra relations among factors limiting Albanese administration’s options, analysts say.

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