Australia cannot afford to be complacent about China

China may believe it needs to reassure African nations that its investment is mutually beneficial and that it is not seeking to exploit Africa as has occurred on that continent in years past.

Given that the EU, Japan, Taiwan and Australia (among others) have far greater two way trade and investment with China than any of the African nations, President Xi Jinping’s visit indicates the high priority China is placing on relationships within Africa.

Australia cannot afford to be complacent about its economic relationship with China.

There are large mineral reserves in Africa that will present intense competition for Australia when they come on line.

The larger ships that are being built for transporting minerals around the world will further erode Australia’s advantage of geographic proximity to China.

Further, any debate about foreign direct investment from China must be conducted in a way that does not cause unnecessary offence or give the impression that such investment is unwelcome in Australia.

There must also be a consistently high level of engagement between the Australian and Chinese senior leadership.

It should be a positive development for an Australian Prime Minister to attend the prestigious Boao Forum in China, as Julia Gillard is doing this weekend.

However the Prime Minister will need to overcome a level of scepticism about her commitment to the bilateral relationship, which she has largely neglected until the middle of this election year.

The Prime Minister did not attend the 2012 Boao Forum nor did she send any member of her Cabinet, Ministry or backbench to officially represent the government.

This would have been unthinkable during the years of the Howard Government when, at the very minimum, senior Cabinet Ministers were dispatched to the forum each year.

This year will be the third time that I have represented the Coalition at the Boao Forum.