
Anthony Albanese talks trade and defence with China's leaders
Published 15 July 2025, 8:52 am
Australia has raised the Chinese live firing drills directly with Chinese President Xi Jinping in a critical high level meeting in Beijing. While Anthony Albanese said the contentious policy to return the Chinese leased port of Darwin was not raised in the hour-long meeting with the president, defence and security did feature. The lengthy engagement involved repeated reference to free and open trade, a veiled reference to Washington DC's tariffs, which are already affecting China's economic growth forecasts with flow on impacts for Australia.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles

News.com.au
32 minutes ago
- News.com.au
Balmain ‘driveway' set to sell for millions
A concrete lot in Sydney – used as a parking spot for years by neighbours – has been listed for sale for around $2 million. The block is a rare commodity as a vacant block in Balmain, where houses sell for a median price of $2.46 million. The 221sqm property is marketed at a price guide of $1.5 million to $2 million. A similar sale occurred in May when a smaller block in Balmain sold for $1.5 million. An open inspection was held for the property on Saturday, with listing agent Spencer & Servi director David Servi saying one group of interested buyers turned up. 'Because it's a vacant block of land with a cyclone fence across the front of it, you can see the whole thing from the street,' he said. 'And there's nothing to show them – I can't exactly show them the tennis court or the swimming pool.' Mr Servi said there had been more interest through inquiries over the phone. He added that he was not sure of the block's history or why it had not been built on previously. According to the land was sold back in 2012 for $765,000, with concept art added in the same year showing plans for a small modern home to be built. The block has similar frontage to neighbouring properties despite being used as a parking spot for many years. It's understood the neighbours who have been parking at the space will need to find a new location to park, with the property going to auction on Saturday, August 2.

Sky News AU
an hour ago
- Sky News AU
Anthony Albanese sounding like a ‘spokesman for Xi Jinping'
Former DFAT Australia-China Council scholar Andrew Phelan says Prime Minister Anthony Albanese sounded like a 'spokesman for Xi Jinping' during his time in China. Chinese President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese have held their highly anticipated meeting. Mr Phelan told Sky News Australia there were times during Anthony Albanese's meeting with Xi Jinping that he wasn't acting in Australia's 'national interest'.

News.com.au
an hour ago
- News.com.au
China's EV giants questioned over subsidy scandal
Two of China's largest electric vehicle manufacturers, BYD and Chery, have been caught up in a multimillion-dollar subsidy scandal after a government audit revealed they improperly claimed more than $80 million in taxpayer funds. China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, shows that from 2016 to 2020, the automakers received public subsidies for more than 13,000 vehicles that failed to meet official requirements. Preliminary results published late last month show Chery had applied for approximately 240 million yuan (approximately AUD $51 million) in funding for 8,760 electric and hybrid vehicles that did not qualify. BYD had 4,973,143 million yuan (approximately AUD $30 million). Both car brands accounted for close to 60 per cent of the total improper claims. The audit assessed more than 75,000 vehicles from more than a dozen automakers. In total, more than 21,700 vehicles across multiple brands were deemed ineligible accounting for 864.9 million yuan (approximately AUD $185 million) in questionable subsidies. No formal allegations of fraud have been made but the audit did flag issues such as missing supporting documents and failure to meet minimum mileage thresholds required under the phased out EV incentive scheme. Under the subsidy program, the Chinese government had previously offered generous cash rebates of up to 60,000 yuan (AUD $8400) per electric or plug-in hybrid vehicle, paid directly to manufacturers, who were supposed to pass on the subsidy to their customers as a discount on the purchase price. However, this did not always happen correctly. Regulators were particularly sceptical of dealer practices and sales strategies, calling out 'zero kilometre used cars', brand new vehicles registered to dealers and resold as used stock to inflate sales figures. The Ministry has not confirmed whether any of the funds flagged in the audit have been repaired or deducted from future payments. Chery denied the allegations and has said it acted transparently and said the audit only involved subsidy applications that had not yet been paid out.