On the evening of July 15, 2025, Premier Li Qiang of the State Council and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese jointly attended the 8th Australia-China CEO Roundtable Meeting at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. Nearly 30 senior executives from Chinese and Australian chambers of commerce and enterprises attended.

After listening to remarks from business representatives of both countries, Li Qiang said that this year marks the 10th anniversary of the entry into force of the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement (FTA). Over the past decade, China-Australia economic and trade cooperation has shown strong resilience and vitality. In the current international economic and trade environment, deeper cooperation between the two countries is even more necessary. With highly complementary economic structures and a solid foundation for industrial and market connectivity, China and Australia are natural cooperative partners. The two sides should further strengthen the bond of cooperation, persist in promoting trade and investment liberalization and facilitation, and forge stronger development synergy to effectively respond to uncertainties in the environment. This aligns with the common interests of both countries.

Li Qiang pointed out that with joint efforts of both sides, bilateral cooperation will not only expand in scale but also achieve qualitative leaps, bringing new opportunities to enterprises in both countries. First, China's vast market will continuously release enormous consumption potential. As long as China and Australia cooperate closely, trade volume will steadily grow and trade structure will continuously improve, creating more business opportunities for enterprises in both countries. Second, strengthened cooperation in the research and development of cutting-edge technologies, including artificial intelligence and life sciences, will better empower the industries of both countries, enabling enterprises from both sides to take the lead in the new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation. Third, joint efforts by enterprises from both countries to accelerate cooperation in clean energy, electric vehicles, and energy storage will help build a resilient and competitive world-class green industrial chain, generating tremendous impetus for development.

Li Qiang stressed that development will be better promoted when the government and enterprises move forward in the same direction. China will continue to pursue high-standard opening-up, treat domestic and foreign-funded enterprises equally, and protect the rights and interests of foreign enterprises and entrepreneurs in China according to law. Li Qiang hopes that Australia will treat Chinese enterprises operating in Australia fairly and properly address their issues related to market access and investment review. Li Qiang also hopes that Chinese and Australian enterprises will remain open, embrace cooperation, plan ahead, continue exploring each other's markets, and further advance market connectivity and industrial integration to promote better complementary advantages and joint development between the two sides.

Anthony Albanese said in his speech that China is Australia's largest trading partner, and the two economies are highly complementary, with cooperation bringing benefits to the people of both countries. The China-Australia FTA has played an important role in advancing the development of bilateral economic and trade relations since its entry into force ten years ago. With steadily developing bilateral relations and strong enthusiasm for cooperation between the business communities of both countries, Australia is willing to strengthen dialogue with China and expand cooperation in economy, trade, agriculture, industry, energy resources, green development and other fields, jointly address global challenges such as climate change, and uphold international fairness and free trade.

Wu Zhenglong attended the roundtable.