Premier Li Qiang pushes China's trade, academic agenda during Asia-Pacific tour

China fortified its partnerships from trade to academic collaborations in the Asia-Pacific region during Premier Li Qiang's recent visits to New Zealand, Australia and Malaysia, with attention centring around exchanges between Beijing and Canberra.

Unlike New Zealand and Malaysia that employ a relatively mild approach towards China, Australia - as a more vocal member of the "Five Eyes" intelligence alliance with Canada, New Zealand, Britain and the US - is seeking to strike a balance between addressing security concerns and economic development with the world's second-largest economy.

"The visit ... by Chinese Premier Li Qiang is a reminder of an old dilemma at the heart of Australia's engagement with China: how to maintain trade and economic relationships with a country that is not a security partner," said Angela Lehman, head of research at the Lygon Group consulting firm and chair of the non-profit Foundation for Australian Studies in China.

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Australian businessmen welcomed the warming relationship with China, highlighted by the first visit by a Chinese premier in seven years as well as a series of on-the-ground collaborations.

Trade also remained high on the agenda, particularly imports of live Australian lobsters to China, which have been under an unofficial ban for more than three years.

"The feeling is positive after the visit by the Chinese premier," said Andrew Ferguson, managing director at seafood provider Ferguson Australia.

"It's believed that the ban will be lifted shortly, so we are told."

Ferguson added that "a number of interested potential Chinese customers" had made contact.

Amid improving relations, China had already lifted its punitive import tariffs on Australian wine at the end of March.

During Li's trip, the Melbourne-based Australia China Agribusiness Association also received a delegation from Chengdu, and both sides signed several export and import agreements.

"[We] help Chengdu to export oranges, kiwi fruits, apples and other fruits to Southeast Asian countries," said Wilton Yao, president of the non-profit organisation, noting that the association would also host delegations from Guangzhou, Shanghai and Hebei later this year.

He added that Australia would export dried garlic, fruit drinks, dried mushrooms, Sichuan cuisine seasonings, grapefruits and dragon fruit to China.

The move to grant 15-day visa-free travel to Australian citizens, which was announced during Li's trip, was also regarded as "a strong, welcoming, and unmistakable signal in its unilateral opening-up", said Wang Zichen, a research fellow at the Beijing-based Centre for China and Globalisation think tank.

"[The] membership in Western pacts such as the 'Five Eyes' or Aukus that Beijing strongly dislikes are not necessarily an obstacle," he said.

"The discussion now naturally moves to China granting visa-free travel for other members of the pacts, especially Britons and Canadians, and ultimately Americans."

As a highlight of people-to-people exchanges, Peking University president Gong Qihuang was the only representative from a Chinese university to join the seventh China-Australia CEO round table in Perth last week.

Gong Qihuang with Sharon Pickering, president of Monash University. Photo: Peking University alt=Gong Qihuang with Sharon Pickering, president of Monash University. Photo: Peking University>

During the conference, Gong signed a memorandum of understanding with Sharon Pickering, president of Monash University in Melbourne, which pledged the institutions would strengthen cooperation on life science and carbon neutrality, according to a post on Peking University's LinkedIn account.

Li was also the first Chinese premier to visit Malaysia since 2015, where he signed a deal to import durians and cemented links on important sectors such as high-level manufacturing and the digital economy.

Malaysia can grab a sizeable share of China's durian market within two to three years with "no problem", said Lim Chin Khee, an adviser with the Durian Academy that trains Malaysian growers.

For New Zealand, agreements on the commencement of the trade in services negotiations based on a negative list approach under the China-New Zealand free-trade deal were discussed.

Additional reporting by Ralph Jennings

This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP's Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright © 2024 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.

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