Chinese premier Li Qiang will complete his Australian trip in Perth on Tuesday, focusing on China’s investment in critical minerals and renewable energy.
Last week, Li became the first Chinese premier to visit New Zealand after a seven-year hiatus before heading to Australia. He is expected to become the first premier since 2015 to visit Malaysia later today.
Li, who is China’s second most powerful person after President Xi Jinping, will tour iron ore miner Fortescue Metals’ clean energy research facility in Perth.
According to Andrew Forrest, Fortescue’s chairman, Li wants more information about strategies it plans to use for producing carbon-free iron ore also known as ‘green iron.’
“China picked us because this simply isn’t just the best technology in Australia for going clean; this happens to be the best technology globally that we have real examples of in trains, ships’ engines and trucks,” said Fortescue.
The technology being tested at the Perth site covers hydrogenation, ammonification as well as battery storage for trains, ships and heavy mining equipment.
As proof that China intends to invest in critical minerals processing plants south of Perth controlled by Chinese-owned Tianqi Lithium Energy Australia.The factory makes battery-grade lithium hydroxide for electric cars.
Australia shares American anxieties concerning Beijing’s dominance of global rare earths market and control of supply chains linked with renewable energies.
Recently treasurer Jim Chalmers told five companies with links to China they needed to sell their interests in Northern Minerals – an Australian mining company dealing with rare earth elements – because this was what was required by Australian national interest .
“My government is ensuring foreign investment continues serving our national interests,” wrote Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on The West Australian which appeared on Tuesday.
Albanese wrote: “This means reforms of our foreign investment framework so that it is more efficient, transparent and better managing risks.”
Forrest has played down any threat posed by Chinese investments into Australia’s critical minerals market.
“Australia should be the one producing all of the world’s critical minerals because we’re a great mining country, so let’s go harder after critical minerals but not with panic because there is no reason for panic,” Forrest said.
The two leaders flew to Perth late on Monday from Canberra, where they had an official annual meeting in Parliament House with senior ministers.
During a media event after their meeting, Albanese said his office had complained to the Chinese embassy about treatment by two officials.
Albanese claimed that during the conversation he became worried about two Chinese people who blocked cameras from filming journalist Cheng Lei and other reporters while top Australian government officials were speaking.
In Beijing, Cheng was detained for three years after breaching an embargo on a state-owned television channel. She was released last year following interventions by the Australian government and currently works for Sky News Australia.
“It was a pretty clumsy attempt actually; I mean if you look at the footage,” Albanese told abc.au.” There were just some people trying to get in between where she happened to be sitting and where cameras were set up.”
“There should be no obstacles to the facilitation of work for Australian journalists. We have told that to diplomats from China.” This was added by Albanese.
According to Cheng, who is Chinese-born, and was interviewed by Sky News on Monday: “They really took a long time so as to keep me from the cameras and they surrounded me.”
“I can only assume it is probably because they are not interested in letting me say or do things that they think might be embarrassing. That alone though said enough,” replied Cheng.
The embassy did not respond immediately to a request for comment.
Li made statements during the press conference while questions were not taken by either him or Albanese.
