ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: It’s a great honour to be here at the Great Wall of China. This is one of the wonders of the world, some 21,000 kilometres long. This particular section was built in 1505 - we are literally standing on history. History in recognition of the longevity of Chinese culture and Chinese achievement as well, and it’s my great honour to be here for the first time as Prime Minister. I came here as part of a parliamentary delegation at the end of the 1990s, a bipartisan delegation.

LI QIANG, PREMIER OF THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA: Honourable Prime Minister Albanese, it is a great pleasure to meet with you in Beijing. Welcome to China. Please allow me to once again congratulate you on your successful reelection as Prime Minister. In the past three years, thanks to your personal efforts and the joint efforts of both sides, China-Australia relations have moved beyond a low point and returned to the right track of stability and development. Our pragmatic cooperation is brimming with renewed vitality and bringing real benefits to our two peoples.

ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Good afternoon. It is very good to be back in Beijing for my second visit as Prime Minister. And this morning, we had a very constructive meeting with President Xi in which we spoke about the range of issues facing our relationship with China. Here, and always, I’m guided by Australia’s national interest. My Government’s approach to our relationship with China is patient, is calibrated and is deliberate. And it is aimed at cooperating wherever we can, disagreeing where we must, but engaging in our national interest.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese met today with the senior Chinese leadership in Beijing, as part of his second official visit to the country since being elected in 2022.

The visit is an opportunity to continue advancing Australia’s economic and security interests, while stabilising the relationship with our largest trading partner China.

Direct engagement between Australia and China at the highest levels is central to a constructive relationship and enables differences to be addressed and opportunities to be maximised for Australia.

Well, thank you very much, Minister Wang, and to Premier Li, my friend, it is great to be here following up from the meeting that we had in Perth one year ago.

I want to also thank our co-chairs, Bran Black of the Business Council of Australia and Zhao Huan of the China Development Bank, for your leadership of what is a very important and distinguished group of businesspeople from our respective countries.

Thank you for bringing us together today and for sharing your valuable insights.

This roundtable is a symbol of co-operation – it is also a sign of ambition.

1. At the invitation of H.E. Li Qiang, Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China, The Hon Anthony Albanese MP, Prime Minister of Australia, undertook an official visit to China from 12 to 18 July. Prime Minister Albanese visited Shanghai, Beijing and Chengdu, Sichuan.

XI JINPING, PRESIDENT OF THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA: Prime Minister Albanese, welcome to China again and congratulations again on your re-election. Over the past three years, you and I have met three times. During these meetings we had in-depth discussions on the strategic, overarching issues critical to the direction of China-Australia relations, and we reached many common understandings. With joint efforts from both sides, the China-Australia relationship has rose from the setback and turned around, bringing tangible benefits to the Chinese and Australian peoples.

ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Thank you very much, and I’m joined today by Geraldine Slattery, the President of BHP in Australia; Kellie Parker, the Chief Executive of Rio Tinto; Dr Andrew Forrest, Executive Chairman of Fortescue; and Gerhard Veldsman, the CEO of Hancock Iron Ore.

It is such a pleasure to be with you in Shanghai today.

An event like this helps put not just a face on a profoundly important international relationship – but many.

I would like to thank all the hardworking staff of the Fairmont Peace Hotel – ably led by Australian general manager George Wee – for looking after us so well.

This hotel is an auspicious venue for Labor leaders. It was here in 1971, the year before he became Prime Minister, that Gough Whitlam marked his 55th birthday.

I’m pleased to be here for an important discussion between Australian iron ore miners and Chinese steelmakers. I appreciate you taking the time to join me today.

Australia and China’s iron ore and steel sector partnership has contributed to both countries’ economic development for decades. 

Australian miners are reliable and stable suppliers of iron ore, responsible for almost 60 per cent of China’s iron ore imports. That iron ore goes into Chinese steel production which accounts for over 50 per cent of global supply.