China urges Australia not to block Chinese investment

China’s vice-trade minister has urged Australia not to use national security as an excuse to hamper Chinese investment in a meeting with his Australian counterpart.

A meeting earlier this week between Wang Shouwen and Tim Ayres, Australia’s assistant minister for trade, was held “at the request” of Canberra, according to the statement released by the Chinese Ministry of Commerce on March 31, South China Morning Post reports.

It comes ahead of a trip by Australian trade minister Don Farrell to China, as well as a possible visit by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese later this year.

Wang, who is also China’s international trade representative, said Beijing pays “great attention” to Australian scrutiny of Chinese investments and anti-dumping investigations into its exports.

“We hope that Australian authorities can handle relevant cases reasonably and autonomously to raise the confidence of Chinese investors,” he said on the sidelines of the Boao Forum for Asia on Wednesday.

Bilateral relations have recently shown signs of improving after a turbulent last three years in which Beijing imposed a range of trade sanctions and import tariffs on Australian products.

Though China resumed imports of coal and lobster this year, Australia’s decision to buy US nuclear submarines under the Aukus alliance has fuelled criticism in China that Canberra is raising the risk of nuclear proliferation and insecurity in the Pacific.

China is a major buyer of Australian iron ore, coal, liquefied natural gas and agricultural products, and has invested heavily in relevant industries to guarantee supply.

Its investment in Australia plunged to US$1.92 billion in 2021 from a high of US$4.24 billion in 2016, amid cooling economic ties between Beijing and Canberra. The total stock of Chinese investment in the country totalled US$34.4 billion.

Chinese firms are generally facing stricter scrutiny of their investments in American, European and Australian markets, with national security cited as a key reason for blocking spending.

Wang also expressed concerns about Australian anti-dumping and countervailing measures, wishing to address problems through bilateral or multilateral channels.

“We hope that both sides can work together to create a good atmosphere for bilateral economic and trade cooperation,” he said.

While some Chinese products such as aluminium exclusions and copper tubes were recently put under investigation by Australia, the two countries are also expected to address China’s punitive tariffs on Australian barley via the World Trade Organization.

Bilateral trade has shown signs of recovery following the thawing of relations, with trade value jumping 6.9 per cent year on year in the first two months of this year, according to Chinese customs.

China reported a trade deficit of US$13 billion with Australia in the period.