Latest news with #Li Qiang
SBS Australia
4 hours ago
- Politics
- SBS Australia
China and Australia reaffirm trading ties
China and Australia reaffirm trading ties with a number of agreements Childcare centres under review as sex offence charges widen Wallabies brace for Lions chaos as Brisbane prepares for Test series opener Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Chinese Premier Li Qiang have signed several agreements in Beijing, under a new trade deal with China including one allowing Australian apples into China for the first time. Mr Albanese also met President Xi Jinping and Chairman Zhao Leji during his six-day visit, which focused on boosting trade and stability in the relationship. Premier Li says China and Australia have highly complementary economies and urged closer co-operation. Mr Albanese says the agreements represent both the strong cooperation between Australia and China and a shared ambition to do even more. "This round table is a symbol of cooperation, but it's also a sign of ambition, the cooperation that has delivered profound economic benefits for the people of both of our nations, and the ambition to build on those complementary strengths and go beyond them, to deepen and diversify our trade and business links." Childcare record-keeping is under fire as police link more centres to accused sex offender Joshua Dale Brown. More than 800 children are being urged to undergo infectious disease testing after authorities identified four additional Affinity Education-run centres where Brown previously worked. He faces over 70 charges involving eight children under two at a Point Cook centre between April 2022 and January 2023. The new sites include Kids Academy in Mickleham and Milestones Early Learning in Tarneit, Greensborough and Braybrook. Education Minister Jason Clare tells Channel 7 there must be a register tracking where educators have worked. "The company should have picked this up in the first place where this worker was. The Victorian Government and Authorities are doing everything they can to track the details of where he worked. But this highlights an example of why you need a database or a register so you know where all childcare workers are and where they're moved from centre to centre. That's just one of the things that we need to do Parliament starts again next week, I'll introduce legislation next week that will cut off funding to childcare centres that aren't up to scratch." Police have also updated Brown's employment dates at Papilio Early Learning in Essendon and removed Hoppers Crossing from the list. Bradley John Murdoch, the man who murdered British backpacker Peter Falconio in the Australian outback, has died of throat cancer aged 67. He was serving a life sentence without parole at Darwin Correctional Centre. Murdoch was convicted in 2005 of killing Mr Falconio and assaulting his girlfriend, Joanne Lees, near Barrow Creek in 2001. Ms Lees escaped and later gave key evidence, but Mr Falconio's body was never found. The case shocked both Australia and the UK. Murdoch maintained his innocence and lodged multiple failed appeals throughout the years. His death leaves the mystery of Mr Falconio's final resting place unsolved, for now. In a move to speed up housing construction, the New South Wales government has launched what it calls a pattern book of pre-approved home designs that could see new builds approved in just 10 days. The scheme offers eight low-rise designs - terraces, townhouses, and manor houses - normally worth $1000 each, but subsidised to just $1 per design for the first six months. Premier Chris Minns says the initiative aims to encourage homebuilding, particularly for young families, and promote fairness in the housing market. "I genuinely hope that we can encourage people to look at this as an option for their next home, or perhaps their first home. If you're a builder, if you're a homeowner, it can save you a lot of time and a lot of money. For too long, it's been way too hard to build in this state, and it's young families in particular who have paid the price. And that's not fair, particularly for those who are being locked out of the housing market." Urban planners have welcomed the initiative as a practical, design-led step toward easing Sydney's housing crisis, though they warn change will be gradual, not instant. In Rugby, The Wallabies are bracing for another fiery British and Irish Lions Test in Brisbane. A packed Suncorp Stadium will host Saturday's series opener, with thousands of travelling Lions fans expected to bring the noise and intensity. Brisbane clashes have a dramatic history, including the brutal 1989 Battle of Ballymore, described by Lions flanker Mike Teague as the most violent game of rugby ever played. The Wallabies are still recovering from a difficult couple of years and a World Cup group-stage exit in 2023.
ABC News
13 hours ago
- Business
- ABC News
China's Premier Li Qiang calls for more economic ties with Australia in meeting with Anthony Albanese
China's Premier Li Qiang has urged Australia to fight back against protectionism during meetings with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Australian business leaders in Beijing, suggesting the two countries should draw closer together in the face of global economic uncertainty. It comes as the prime minister prepares to make a trip to the Great Wall of China on Wednesday, following in the footsteps of former Australian prime ministers Gough Whitlam and Malcolm Fraser. Mr Albanese and Mr Li sat down for an annual leaders meeting on Tuesday evening, as well as hosting a roundtable meeting with a high-powered group of Chinese and Australian business leaders. In a thinly veiled swipe at the Trump administration's chaotic "liberation day" tariffs and its push to up-end trading ties with key partners, China's second-most-senior leader emphasised the importance of maintaining open markets and predictability. He also suggested Australia and China should respond together in the face of "growing instability and uncertainty in the global economy." "The development of all countries is faced with new challenges [and] given such circumstances, China and Australia as important trade partners, should strengthen dialogue and cooperation," he said. "The significance of us doing so is becoming more notable." In a joint statement issued after the meeting, the two countries also said they had agreed to "continue to grow the bilateral relationship, enhance exchanges and cooperation in areas of shared interest, uphold their respective national interests, and navigate their differences wisely". The meeting came after Mr Albanese met with China's President Xi Jinping, who used more veiled language to refer to the Trump administration, saying Australia and China should commit to "equal treatment" and cooperation "no matter how the international landscape may evolve." The prime minister and premier also oversaw the signing of six agreements designed to encourage economic cooperation and business ties across a host of different areas including tourism, agriculture and renewable energy. But the premier's language in the meetings with Mr Albanese and business leaders left little question that China had picked up on Australia's growing anxiety about the Trump administration's assault on the international trading system. Mr Li's comments also illustrate how China is trying to present itself as a champion of free trade and exploit resentments with the Trump administration's aggressive approach. "We hope that you will embrace openness and cooperation, no matter how the world changes," the premier told the gathered business chiefs. Earlier, Mr Albanese told reporters that Mr Xi did not directly raise his election promise to effectively force a Chinese company to give up the Port of Darwin — a commitment that has been forcefully criticised in the Chinese media. Mr Li did not directly refer to the Port of Darwin in his public remarks but said he "trusted" that Australia would "treat Chinese enterprises fairly and also properly resolve the issues of market access". The prime minister has now wrapped up his high-level meetings in China and will travel to the Great Wall of China near Beijing on Wednesday, just as Gough Whitlam and Malcolm Fraser did in the 1970s. Mr Albanese is likely to emphasise Labor's role in restoring Australia's ties with the People's Republic of China under Mr Whitlam. After that, the prime minister will fly to the teeming city of Chengdu in the mountainous central province of Sichuan for the final leg of his China trip.
South China Morning Post
20 hours ago
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Leaders' meeting sees Australia and China call for increased dialogue and cooperation
China and Australia should foster an accurate understanding of each other and strengthen mutual trust, President Xi Jinping told visiting Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. The top-level meeting in Beijing on July 15, 2025, came as the two major trading partners are moving to deepen economic ties despite heightened geopolitical tensions. For his part, Albanese affirmed Australia's commitment to its largest trading partner, welcoming progress on the free trade deal. Albanese is also scheduled to meet Chinese Premier Li Qiang later in the day, with resources trade, energy transition and security expected to be key discussion points.
Free Malaysia Today
a day ago
- Business
- Free Malaysia Today
Australian PM Albanese to discuss trade, security in meeting with China's Xi
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he looked forward to a 'constructive dialogue' with the Chinese leaders. (EPA Images pic) BEIJING : Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is expected to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang in Beijing today, where he said resources trade, energy transition and security tensions would be key topics for discussion. Albanese is due to meet Xi ahead of an annual leaders' dialogue with Li, and later attend a meeting of business leaders from both countries at the Great Hall of the People in the Chinese capital. Albanese said yesterday that he looked forward to a 'constructive dialogue' with the Chinese leaders. Australia, which regards the US as its major security ally, has pursued a China policy of 'cooperate where we can, disagree where we must' under Albanese. China, meanwhile, is trying to capitalise on US President Donald Trump's sweeping trade tariffs by presenting itself as a stable and reliable partner. Chinese officials have expressed interest in expanding a decade-old free trade deal and cooperating in areas like artificial intelligence. The state-owned China Daily published a glowing opinion piece about Albanese's visit in today's paper and said it showed countries with different political systems could still cooperate. However, any cooperation is likely to be constrained by long-standing Australian concerns around China's military build-up and the jailing of Australian writer Yang Hengjun. Beijing has also separately criticised Canberra's increased screening of foreign investment in critical minerals and Albanese's pledge to return a Chinese-leased port to Australian ownership. Australia's exports to China, its largest trading partner, span agriculture and energy but are dominated by iron ore, and Albanese has travelled with executives from mining giants Rio Tinto, BHP, and Fortescue, who met Chinese steel industry officials yesterday, at the start of the six-day visit. Bran Black, CEO of the Business Council of Australia, said Australia's Bluescope Steel would also be at today's business roundtable, along with China's electric vehicle giant BYD, Chinese banking executives, Baosteel and state-run food group COFCO. 'First and foremost we use fixtures such as this to send a signal that business-to-business engagement should be welcomed and encouraged,' Black told Reuters today.
Arab News
a day ago
- Business
- Arab News
Australia PM Albanese to discuss trade, security in meeting with China's Xi
BEIJING: Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is expected to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang in Beijing on Tuesday, where he said resources trade, energy transition and security tensions would be key topics for discussion. Albanese is due to meet Xi ahead of an annual leaders' dialogue with Li, and later attend a meeting of business leaders from both countries at the Great Hall of the People in the Chinese capital. Albanese said on Monday he looked forward to a 'constructive dialogue' with the Chinese leaders. Australia, which regards the United States its major security ally, has pursued a China policy of 'cooperate where we can, disagree where we must' under Albanese. China, meanwhile, is trying to capitalize on US President Donald Trump's sweeping trade tariffs by presenting itself as a stable and reliable partner. Chinese officials have expressed interest in expanding a decade-old free trade deal and cooperating in areas like artificial intelligence. The state-owned China Daily published a glowing opinion piece about Albanese's visit in Tuesday's paper and said it showed countries with different political systems could still cooperate. However, any cooperation is likely to be constrained by long-standing Australian concerns around China's military build-up and the jailing of Australian writer Yang Hengjun. Beijing has also separately criticized Canberra's increased screening of foreign investment in critical minerals and Albanese's pledge to return a Chinese-leased port to Australian ownership. Australia's exports to China, its largest trading partner, span agriculture and energy but are dominated by iron ore, and Albanese has traveled with executives from mining giants Rio Tinto, BHP, and Fortescue, who met Chinese steel industry officials on Monday, at the start of the six-day visit. Bran Black, CEO of the Business Council of Australia, said Australia's Bluescope Steel would also be at Tuesday's business roundtable, along with China's electric vehicle giant BYD, Chinese banking executives, Baosteel and state-run food group COFCO. 'First and foremost we use fixtures such as this to send a signal that business-to-business engagement should be welcomed and encouraged,' Black told Reuters on Tuesday.
