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.
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".
'Grow together'
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 Mr Li'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," Mr Li told the gathered business chiefs.
"You should be promoters of economic and trade cooperation, so that our two countries will better draw each other's strengths and grow together."
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".
Mr Albanese 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.
He 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.
