It is such a pleasure to be with you in Shanghai today.

An event like this helps put not just a face on a profoundly important international relationship – but many.

I would like to thank all the hardworking staff of the Fairmont Peace Hotel – ably led by Australian general manager George Wee – for looking after us so well.

This hotel is an auspicious venue for Labor leaders. It was here in 1971, the year before he became Prime Minister, that Gough Whitlam marked his 55th birthday.

I’m pleased to be here for an important discussion between Australian iron ore miners and Chinese steelmakers. I appreciate you taking the time to join me today.

Australia and China’s iron ore and steel sector partnership has contributed to both countries’ economic development for decades. 

Australian miners are reliable and stable suppliers of iron ore, responsible for almost 60 per cent of China’s iron ore imports. That iron ore goes into Chinese steel production which accounts for over 50 per cent of global supply. 

ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Well, I'm absolutely delighted to be here in Shanghai this morning to launch, of course, the signing, firstly, of an agreement between Tourism Australia and Trip.com to encourage Chinese tourists to come to Australia. Today, we're also launching a new tourism campaign that you've seen with Aussie icon Ruby the Roo.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is focused on advancing Australia’s security and economic interests – with trade, tourism and Australian jobs a critical part of his visit to China.

That means driving greater and more diverse tourism cooperation between Australia and China – building on our strong people to people links.

China is Australia’s largest tourism market by expenditure, with a total spend of $9.2 billion in the 12 months up to March 2025.  

This represents around a quarter of all short-term international visitor expenditure in Australia for that period.

CHEN JINING, SECRETARY OF SHANGHAI MUNICIPAL COMMITTEE OF THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF CHINA: Welcome to Shanghai.

ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Thank you so much.

SECRETARY CHEN: Currently Shanghai is experiencing its rainy season, however this year’s rainy season seems to end a little bit early, the end of last month. So, you certainly claim some credit for the good weather, for bringing us a session. It is truly a great pleasure for me to meet with you, Honourable Prime Minister.

It’s great to be here with Kevin Muscat, now the manager here of Shanghai Port FC and, indeed, the premiership winning manager here.

One of the things about Australia and China going forward is that we build the people-to-people relationships. You do that by the participation of Australians here, whether it be here in football, whether it be the tennis tournament that is going to take place in Chengdu for the Australian Open. Whether it be the business relationships that we have here as well.

ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: It's wonderful to be back here in Shanghai for my second visit to China as the Prime Minister of Australia. There are important meetings to be had this week, and the fact that I am leading a very large business delegation speaks to the importance of the economic relationship between Australia and China. We know that one in four of Australia's jobs depends on our exports, and China is our major trading partner, with exports to China being worth more in value than the next four countries combined.

MICHELLE GEBER, CEO OF CHÂTEAU TANUNDA: Good morning, everyone. It’s such a pleasure to welcome you, and absolutely incredible, we’re so honoured to have the PM here to visit us at Château Tanunda, our Sydney Cellar Door, in The Rocks. We’re a 135-year-old family winery, and the resumption of trade in China has meant so much to our business. Over the last year, we’ve seen an increase in 1,000 per cent of our sales into China. And so, you know, we’re so thankful and grateful for your trip that’s coming up, and we would like to welcome you to speak.

ANTHONY ALBANESE MP, PRIME MINISTER: Thanks very much for joining us and today I'm joined by Minister Tony Burke and also Jillian Segal, the Special Envoy to myself on antisemitism. Antisemitism is an evil scourge. There is no place in Australia for antisemitism. The kind of hatred and violence that we’ve seen on our streets recently is despicable, and it won’t be tolerated. And I want those responsible to face the full force of the law.

At the invitation of Premier Li Qiang, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will travel to the People’s Republic of China from Saturday 12 July to Friday 18 July 2025 for the Annual Leaders’ Meeting.

The Prime Minister will hold the Australia–China Annual Leaders' Meeting with Premier Li in Beijing. The Prime Minister will also meet President Xi Jinping and Chairman Zhao Leji of the National People’s Congress.

Leaders will exchange views on global and regional issues as well as bilateral cooperation in areas including trade and tourism.