Australian treasurer welcomes Chinese efforts to stimulate economy during Beijing visit

Australian Treasurer Jim Chalmers on Friday welcomed Chinese efforts to stimulate its slowing economy, noting that its recent weakness has hurt Australia.

Chalmers was wrapping up a two-day visit to Beijing, the first to China by an Australian treasurer in seven years, as strained bilateral relations mend.

He told reporters that Australia’s economy was slowing because of global economic uncertainty, high interest rates and China’s slowdown.

“Those three things are combining to slow our own economy considerably and when steps are taken here to boost economic activity and to boost growth in the Chinese economy, subject to the details that will be released in good time, we see that as a very, very good development for Australia,” Chalmers said.

China is the biggest buyer of Australia’s most lucrative exports: iron ore and coal.

“Our resilience and prosperity are closely connected to China’s economy and the global economy,” Chalmers wrote in an opinion piece published Friday in The Australian newspaper. He noted that his department forecasts Chinese annual economic growth at below 5% for the next three years, the weakest expansion since the late 1970s.

While in Beijing the two sides held meetings for the Australia-China Strategic Economic Dialogue, reviving the once annual talks aimed at growing trade and investment after a seven-year hiatus.

In 2020, China introduced a series of official and unofficial trade bans on Australian commodities, including coal, that cost Australian exporters more than 20 billion Australian dollars ($14 billion) a year.

Such “trade impediments” now cost Australian exporters less than AU$1 billion ($690 million) a year, Chalmers says.

At the outset of Thursday's meetings, Zheng Shanjie, chair of China’s National Development and Reform Commission, noted how relations had improved since Chalmers’ center-left Labor Party government was elected in 2020, ending nine years of conservative rule in Australia.

“Our development represents opportunities rather than challenges with each other,” Zheng said through an interpreter.

“At a time when the international situation is intricate and turbulent, it is of great significance for both countries to discuss economic development and cooperation opportunities together,” Zheng added.

Two-way bilateral trade reached a record AU$327 billion ($225 billion) last year, more than double its value when a free trade deal was struck in 2015.

During his visit, Chalmers was expected to raise with the Chinese restrictions on imports of Australian lobsters and red meat from two Australian processors.

China was expected to raise concerns about Australian foreign investment rules.

China wants to invest in Australian critical minerals, but Australia shares U.S. concerns over China’s global dominance in critical minerals and control over supply chains in the renewable energy sector.

Citing Australia’s national interests, Chalmers recently ordered five Chinese-linked companies to divest their shares in the rare earth mining company Northern Minerals.

China has been grappling with a lagging economy post-COVID, with weak consumer demand, persistent deflationary pressures and a contraction in factory activity.

Earlier this week, China announced a series of new measures to boost the economy and revive its ailing property sector. The central bank lowered bank reserve requirements by 0.5% as of Friday. It also has slashed interest rates on its loans to commercial banks and lowered the minimum down payments for some mortgages.

Unconfirmed reports Thursday by the South China Morning Post and Bloomberg said the government plans to spend about 1 trillion yuan ($142 billion) on recapitalizing six big state-owned banks.

___

McGuirk contributed from Melbourne.