Anthony Albanese in China: Big business as mining leaders meet with top players in steel industry

West Australian

3 days ago

Australia's highest profile business leaders will join the Prime Minister on his second day in Shanghai on Monday as he turns a laser focus on expanding commercial and economic ties with the country's largest trading partner.
BHP's Geraldine Slattery, Fortescue's Andrew Forrest and Rio Tinto's Kellie Parker will join Chinese counterparts including Xu Shishuai from the Ansteel Group and Wang Jiming, vice-president of the Baowu Group at a steel decarbonisation roundtable to kick off a business-intensive day.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who launched his six-day China tour on Sunday promoting sports and tourism ties, will address both the roundtable and a lunch of some 200 senior Australian and Chinese business leaders from the mining, manufacturing, energy, transport, hospitality and professional services sectors.
In the lunchtime speech at the Fairmont Peace Hotel, Mr Albanese will talk up Australia as a 'dependable trade partner backed by a strong, reliable economy' while spruiking the 'impressive growth in two-way business ties,' which saw the exchange of goods and services last year hit $312 billion.
His three-city sweep of Shanghai, Beijing and Chengdu this week has been billed as a reinforcement of the ongoing reset of trade and political ties after a series of import bans were slapped on Australian commodities when the Morrison government called for an inquiry into the origins of Covid-19.
Monday's menu featuring Australian red meat, rock lobster and red wine, all subject to the recently lifted sanctions regime, is a symbolic nod to improving relations and the removal of more than $20 billion of trade impediments.
Mr Albanese will also invoke the memory of former Prime Minister Gough Whitlam who celebrated his 55th birthday at the iconic Shanghai hotel in 1971 while paving the way for Australia's newfound relationship with the People's Republic of China.
'More than half a century on, it is a relationship that continues to evolve and grow, a relationship with a maturity that helps us overcome any challenges and seize the opportunities before us,' Mr Albanese will say.
This includes deepening cooperation in decarbonising the two economies and propelling Australia towards its goal of becoming a 'renewable energy superpower.'
Steel decarbonisation involves reducing carbon dioxide emissions in steel production that significantly add to global emissions.
While China remains the world's largest emitter, it is also viewed as a clean tech powerhouse, funnelling huge resources into renewable energy sources and decarbonising its industrial production.
The Government and industry view greater collaboration with China as vital to meeting Australia's own green energy goals.
In his speech to the morning roundtable, Mr Albanese will both highlight Australia's 60 per cent contribution to China's iron ore imports for steel production, while acknowledging steelmaking value chains are also responsible for 7 to 9 per cent of global emissions.
'It is in both countries' interests to ensure a sustainable and market-driven global steel sector,' and to 'work together to address global excess steel capacity,' he will say.
'Steel decarbonisation presents a range of challenges. What we need are enabling policy environments, extensive investments in research to develop new technologies and collaboration across academia, industry and government,' Mr Albanese will argue.
Geraldine Slattery, BHP President Australia, said this week's high-level business delegation was a testament to how the Australian and Chinese resources sectors boosting the 'ongoing prosperity of both nations.'
BHP would seek 'to invest in and foster the technology and process breakthroughs that will drive down emissions in steelmaking facilities not only in China, but around the world,' she said.
'This includes multiple technologies, including low carbon fuel use, carbon capture utilisation and storage, electrolysis demonstrations and direct reduced iron trials like the NeoSmelt electric smelting furnace pilot based in Western Australia.'