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By Wang Zhaokun Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard arrived in Beijing on Monday to start her first trip to China since taking office last year, as she aims to strengthen Canberra's relationship with its biggest trading partner. Gillard's talks with top Chinese leaders, including President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao, are expected to revolve around issues of trade, investment flows, and regional security, the Australian government said. "It's a key focus of my trip to seek and strengthen our economic relationship," the prime minister told reporters in Seoul on Monday before leaving for Beijing. She will also attend the China-Australia Economic and Trade Cooperation Forum together with Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang. Senior executives from some of Australia's largest companies, including BHP Billiton's Marius Kloppers and Rio Tinto boss Sam Walsh, will join the meeting. "Economic and trade ties will top the agenda during Gillard's visit," Guo Chunmei, an expert on Australian studies at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, told the Global Times. "China and Australia are highly complementary in their economies and resources now continue to underpin Australia's exports to China. Gillard might want to further diversify the cooperation." China surpassed Japan in 2009 to become Australia's largest export market, and now accounts for some 25 percent of Australian exports. Australia's strong economic ties with China are thought to have helped the country's quick emergence from a deep recession during the global financial crisis. Geoff Raby, Canberra's top envoy to Beijing, said last month that no country could ever replace China in its importance for Australia's economy. However, Gillard has indicated that she will not shy away from raising prickly topics with Chinese leaders during talks with them. "We've got a constructive relationship with China but we do have differences," she said. Gillard's comments coincide with the release of a new survey on Monday by the Sydney-based Lowy Institute think-tank, which shows that 44 percent of Australians believe China will become a military threat to Australia in the next 20 years and that some fear Australia will be drawn into a regional conflict between Beijing and Washington. "The US-Australia alliance will definitely remain the top diplomatic priority for the Australian government. The differences in social systems between China and Australia determine that the China threat theory could be accepted by some Australians," Guo said. "But as long as China sticks to its road of peaceful development and strengthens economic ties with Australia, such concerns about China will definitely be removed," Guo added. Agencies contributed to this story |
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