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Articles by James Laurenceson
Australia’s research governance policies risk stifling innovation — and amount to national self-harm
share_windows This article is an English translation of an opinion piece published in FT Chinese on 13 July 2026. Australian universities are being warned by national security agencies and newspaper editorial writers that research in “sensitive” Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) fields such as artificial intelligence is at risk of being stolen. And China is frequently presented as the principal threat. But these warnings almost always miss two essential points of context.
The risk of collaboration with China is smaller than the cost of curbing it
By James Laurenceson and Wanning Sun National security is not strengthened by making Australia smaller and less attractive to scientific talent, say James Laurenceson and Wanning Sun. share_windows This article appeared in Times Higher Education on June 16 2026. The near decade-old campaign to frame Australian university research collaboration with China as a national security threat is experiencing a renewed burst. Fears around research security are not made up.
FAST FOCUS | The Trump-Xi summit
The most notable aspect of the initial discussions at the Trump-Xi summit in Beijing is Xi’s introduction of a new formulation of ‘constructive strategic stability’ to guide relations between the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and the US.
FAST FOCUS | Chinese investment in Australia
On May 6 2026, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) released new data on foreign investment in Australia, covering 2025. These show that the stock of Chinese direct investment in Australia is $36 billion – the same level it was in 2015, and one-quarter less than in 2019. Since 2019, the People’s Republic of China (PRC)’s share of all foreign direct investment (FDI) in Australia has also fallen from 4.6 percent to 2.8 percent. Trade and investment are related.
Australia risks weakening itself by overcorrecting on China
Australia’s economic relationship with China remains strong, but growing restrictions on investment and research risk undermining long-term economic and national security. Within Australia, much of the critique of the government’s foreign policy settings revolve around the defence portfolio, in particular, the degree to which strategy and capabilities have become ever more aligned with, and dependent upon, the US at the same time as it has become a less trustworthy partner.
PERSPECTIVES | Why Chinese investment is leaving Australia
Posted on 28 Apr 2026 4-minute read By James Laurenceson This article appeared in UTS:ACRI's Perspectives on April 28 2026. Perspectives is the commentary series of the Australia-China Relations Institute at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS:ACRI), offering research-informed viewpoints on developments and debates in the Australia-China relationship.
Closing the door: Why Chinese investment is collapsing in Australia even as investors go global
By Glenda Korporaal and James Laurenceson The value of new investment from the People’s Republic of China (PRC) being approved by the Australian government is now so low that the quarterly reports of the Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) often do not include it as it no longer ranks in the top 10 investors into Australia.
Leverage in the Australia-China iron ore trade
The November 2025 launch of the Chinese-invested Simandou iron ore mine in Guinea, West Africa pricked a long-standing anxiety in Australia — whether China’s past dependence on Australian iron ore is waning and whether Beijing might now be able to extract geopolitical concessions by threatening Australia’s economic security. But viewing Simandou’s market entry as a turning point is misguided and risks leading policymakers astray.
Australia’s cost of living crisis and the PRC
By James Laurenceson Cost-of-living pressures have intensified debate in Australia about housing affordability and the role of foreign investment in residential real estate, particularly from the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Public concern is significant.
Year of the Horse presents new hopes for Liberals to finally claw back Chinese voters
share_windows This article appeared in Crikey on February 23 2026. Question: What do Labor leaders have in common with their Liberal counterparts? Answer: they were both donning red garments or accessories in Melbourne this weekend, and saying gong hei fat choi — or Happy New Year — to Chinese-Australians as they rang in the Year of the Horse.
Leverage in the Australia-China iron ore trade
This article appeared in the East Asia Forum Quarterly, vol. 18, no. 1, January - March 2026. The November 2025 launch of the Chinese-invested Simandou iron ore mine in Guinea, West Africa pricked a long-standing anxiety in Australia—whether China’s past dependence on Australian iron ore is waning and whether Beijing might now be able to extract geopolitical concessions by threatening Australia’s economic security.
Our allies have a Plan B as geopolitical tectonic plates shift, and Australia needs one too
share_windows This article appeared in Crikey on January 21 2026. A number of developments outside Australia last week could be signs of the geopolitical tectonic plates slowly shifting. Not that you’ll read about them in Australia’s mainstream media — these developments would be considered either too peripheral to Australia’s national interest, or too incompatible with the existing narrative framework of reporting the world. First, Canada.
Despite new tariffs on beef, China is far from closing the door on trade with Australia
Australia has been reminded once again that China isn’t always a reliable trading partner. Last week, on New Year’s Eve, Chinese authorities announced new trade restrictions to protect the country’s domestic beef industry. Effective from January 1 and extending to the end of 2028, countries like Australia will be allocated an annual quota. Any beef exports to China beyond this volume will be slugged with a 55% tariff.
Despite new tariffs on beef, China is far from closing the door on trade with Australia
Australia has been reminded once again that China isn’t always a reliable trading partner. Last week, on New Year’s Eve, Chinese authorities announced new trade restrictions to protect the country’s domestic beef industry. Effective from January 1 and extending to the end of 2028, countries like Australia will be allocated an annual quota. Any beef exports to China beyond this volume will be slugged with a 55% tariff.
In the face of a Trump administration launching extraordinary attacks (see: Venezuela), Australia needs to change
share_windows This article appeared in Crikey on January 8 2026. Imagine this scenario: the world wakes up to learn that the United States has carried out a major military operation in a sovereign nation, launched strikes around its capital, captured its president and his wife, and flown them to New York to face US federal charges.
China's biggest test
share_windows This article appeared in Inside Story on January 7 2026. “You who are seated here today will be China’s elites tomorrow,” declared the middle-aged party secretary at my senior high school. Alongside hundreds of other first-year students at one of the top schools in the province, I was stunned by the over-the-top welcome speech.
PERSPECTIVES | ChAFTA at 10: A decade in review
This article appeared in UTS:ACRI's Perspectives on December 19 2025. Perspectives is the commentary series of the Australia-China Relations Institute at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS:ACRI), offering research-informed viewpoints on developments and debates in the Australia-China relationship. A ‘dud deal’. A ‘bad agreement’.
Why the west can’t escape China’s rare earth dominance - yet
share_windows This article appeared in The Diplomat on November 8 2025. When US President Donald Trump emerged from his October summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Busan, South Korea, he declared it a ‘12 out of 10’ success. Washington, it seemed, had won a major concession. In exchange for tariff relief, Beijing agreed to pause its escalating export controls on rare earth elements for one year, granting US industry a vital reprieve. This interpretation is dangerously wrong.
2025 Doing Business in China Flash Report
The 2025 Doing Business in China Flash Survey, led by the China-Australia Chamber of Commerce (AustCham China) with support from the Australia-China Relations Institute at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS:ACRI) and the Australia China Business Council (ACBC), provides an update on business sentiment since the 2025 Doing Business in China Report.
Compromise, not a zero-sum game, has delivered results for Trump and Xi - for now
share_windows This article appeared in Crikey on November 3 2025. In his meeting with US President Donald Trump in South Korea last week, China’s President Xi Jinping expressed his vision of China–US relations in lyrical language thick with metaphor: In the face of wings, waves and challenges we should stay the right course, navigate through complex terrain, and ensure that the giant ship of China–US relations sails steadily forward.
Understanding Australia-China research mobility
Australia’s research partnership with China is a significant component of its scientific output, particularly in engineering, technology and applied sciences. Collaborative work supports a large share of Australia’s high-impact publications, helping sustain competitiveness despite the country’s modest research scale. In recent years, however, Chinese postgraduate students and scholars have reported increasing uncertainty in securing visas to undertake study or research in Australia.
PERSPECTIVES | Australia-China policy: Guardrails, not walls
This week, I attended the Australia-China Business Council’s (ACBC) annual Canberra Networking Day. For over two decades, the ACBC has brought together miners, universities, agricultural exporters, tourism operators and others who depend on trade with the People’s Republic of China (PRC), with the aim of bridging the gap between commercial reality and political theatre. That gap has, however, never been wider.
The missing piece in Australia’s critical mineral deal lies East
share_windows This article appeared in the Australian Financial Review on October 28 2025. The US-Australia critical minerals deal makes for a good headline but fails to address Australia’s core economic exposure. Washington’s anxiety is about the security of supply. Canberra’s, however, should be about a buyer base dangerously dominated by China.
AUKUS proves why Australia is no longer a middle power with sovereignty and autonomy
share_windows This article appeared in Crikey on October 24 2025. Australian media coverage of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s meeting with US President Donald Trump was teetering on the brink of euphoria. Emerging from the cabinet room where the meeting took place, the ABC’s reporter Jane Norman appeared breathless in her account of the big moment. Even Sally Sara, host of Radio National’s Breakfast, who is usually calm and is known to ask probing questions, seemed to have abandoned her cool.
The China factor in Australia-US relations
share_windows This article appeared in The Diplomat on October 23 2025. As Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese looked on, US President Donald Trump said he doesn’t expect a conflict with China. ‘We’ll be just fine with China. China doesn’t want to do that,’ he told reporters during a press conference with Albanese at the White House on October 21.
Keeping students in school and out of prison
“By working together across schools, communities, and government, we can strengthen inclusion, support teachers and ensure all students can remain engaged in learning," said Dr Archie Thomas.
In Transit: Australia-China Research Mobility and the Visa Experience
By James Laurenceson, Elena Collinson, Wanning Sun, Marina Zhang and Xunpeng Shi Despite its limited resources and scale, Australia operates at the global frontier of knowledge creation in emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI). Chinese nationals have played a fundamental role in making this possible. Among the world’s top AI researchers who earned a graduate qualification from an Australian institution, more than half were recruited from undergraduate programs in China.
PERSPECTIVES | China’s new white paper on Xinjiang
This article appeared in UTS:ACRI's Perspectives on September 24 2025. Perspectives is the commentary series of the Australia-China Relations Institute at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS:ACRI), offering research-informed viewpoints on developments and debates in the Australia-China relationship.
PERSPECTIVES | Four myths about Australia-China trade that just won’t die
This article appeared in UTS:ACRI's Perspectives on August 29 2025. Perspectives is the commentary series of the Australia-China Relations Institute at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS:ACRI), offering research-informed viewpoints on developments and debates in the Australia-China relationship. It was already clear to the Governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia in 2011 that, ‘The proverbial pet shop galah can by now recite the facts of Australia’s trade with China’.
The China‐Australia Free Trade Agreement (ChAFTA): Assessing Outcomes a Decade on
1 Introduction In June 2015, after 21 rounds and more than a decade of negotiations, the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement (ChAFTA) was signed in Canberra by Australian Trade and Investment Minister Andrew Robb and his Chinese counterpart, Commerce Minister Gao Hucheng.
Actually, China can’t put Australia over an economic barrel
Contrary to widespread commentary, Australia’s trade exposure to China doesn’t put Beijing in a position to apply powerful economic coercion on this country. To understand why, we first need to recognise that in cases of economic coercion the aggressor starts from a disadvantaged position. After all, cutting off economic exchanges also hurts it, and the target isn’t inclined to fold because the change being pressed is not in its interests. The aggressor must have a tolerance for self-harm.
Albanese’s China mission - managing a complex relationship in a world of shifting alliances
By James Laurenceson Prime Minister Anthony Albanese left for China on Saturday, confident most Australians back the government’s handling of relations with our most important economic partner and the leading strategic power in Asia. Albanese’s domestic critics have lambasted him for meeting Chinese leader Xi Jinping before United States President Donald Trump. They are also aggrieved at his refusal to label China a security threat. But neither criticism really stacks up.
James Laurenceson
James Laurenceson is Director and Professor at the Australia-China Relations Institute, University of Technology Sydney (UTS:ACRI). He has previously held appointments at the University of Queensland, Shandong University (China) and Shimonoseki City University (Japan).
Albanese’s China mission - managing a complex relationship in a world of shifting alliances
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese leaves for China on Saturday, confident most Australians back the government’s handling of relations with our most important economic partner and the leading strategic power in Asia. Albanese’s domestic critics have lambasted him for meeting Chinese leader Xi Jinping before United States President Donald Trump. They are also aggrieved at his refusal to label China a security threat. But neither criticism really stacks up.
Albanese’s China mission - managing a complex relationship in a world of shifting alliances
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese leaves for China on Saturday, confident most Australians back the government’s handling of relations with our most important economic partner and the leading strategic power in Asia. Albanese’s domestic critics have lambasted him[1] for meeting Chinese leader Xi Jinping before United States President Donald Trump. They are also aggrieved at his refusal to label China a security threat[2]. But neither criticism really stacks up.
Still in the Game: Why Australia's Business Future Still Includes Beijing
A new survey of more than 850 businesses active in the Australia–China economic corridor reveals sustained confidence in China’s economic potential, despite shifting global dynamics. While the Australian government continues to encourage trade with China, it walks a finer line when it comes to investment.
2025 Doing Business in China
Led by the China-Australia Chamber of Commerce (AustCham China) with support from the Australia-China Relations Institute at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS:ACRI) and the Australia China Business Council, the report, now in its fourth edition, surveys senior executives from companies actively engaged in the Australia-China bilateral corridor, including trade, investment, joint ventures and operational activities.
China has finally removed crushing tariffs on Australian wine: But re-establishing ourselves in the market won’t be easy
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Australia-China: Port visits can manage tensions
Chinese ship visits to Australia don’t always generate alarm and controversy. Last Friday, Hobart hosted the arrival of Chinese ice-breaker Xue Long 2, more than five years after its previous visit. Xue Long 1 visited last March. Tasmanian Premier Jeremy Rockliff said last November that an upcoming visit to China had “the clear purpose to invite Xue Long 1 and 2 vessels to reengage and utilise the Port of Hobart as part of their Antarctic Program”.
‘Alarmist nonsense’: Labor and Coalition dismissed security risks over the Port of Darwin for years. What’s changed?
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton have both committed to stripping a Chinese company, Landbridge, of the lease to operate Darwin Port. Landbridge paid A$506 million for the 99-year lease from the Northern Territory government in October 2015. In Australia’s political system, democratically elected representatives like Albanese and Dutton have the power to make such decisions.
‘Alarmist nonsense’: Labor and Coalition dismissed security risks over the Port of Darwin for years. What’s changed?
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton have both committed to stripping a Chinese company, Landbridge, of the lease to operate Darwin Port. Landbridge paid A$506 million for the 99-year lease from the Northern Territory government in October 2015. In Australia’s political system, democratically elected representatives like Albanese and Dutton have the power to make such decisions.
Caught between two giants - Openforum
‘Not … a friendly act’. ‘A very bad day for our relationship with the United States’. ‘Not how allies should treat one another’. Such were the descriptors that Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his ministers used to announce that the United States had hit local steel and aluminium producers with 25 per cent tariffs on 12 March 2025. On the explanation that Washington had provided — that Australian steel and aluminium was a threat to US national security — the replies were just as blunt.
With the relationship between Australia and China now in a stalemate with the possibility it could get worse, leading local protagonists have taken to telling a story of how things came to be. But its in no small part a self-serving tale, seemingly designed to deflect having to take some responsibility.
'Permissible' Chinese military spending, AUKUS, and the security dilemma
The view that AUKUS is a justified response to China’s actions ignores China’s achievements and future ambitions. It also ignores China’s legitimate security fears. When Scott Morrison, Boris Johnson, and Joe Biden jointly announced the creation of the AUKUS alignment nearly a month ago, China wasn’t mentioned.
Australia may be standing alone on China as the US does not 'have our back'
Canberra sees any repercussions for ‘standing up to China’ as a badge of honour. But the US is grabbing our markets one after another it’s now LNG. Earlier this month, with great fanfare, Washington, London, and Canberra announced the AUKUS pact: a security arrangement meant to confront China. The deal was hailed as a historic opportunity by Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison to protect shared values and promote security and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region.
China enters 2021 a stronger, more influential power and Australia may feel the squeeze even more
Great power competition in the Asia-Pacific region has been building for years. But COVID-19 has turbo-charged the shifts taking place and China is finishing 2020 in a significantly stronger position compared with the US than when the year started. Meanwhile, Canberras relations with Beijingcontinue to deteriorateand theres little reason to be optimistic that a sudden, positive turnaround will be seen in 2021.
The resurgence of China-Australia trade
Prosaic economic factors, not politics, are driving the growth in China-Australia trade, ensuring China will only become more important as Australias trading partner of choice," writes James Laurenceson. Foreign Minister Penny Wong has madeclear that Australias relationship with China is not going to go back to where we were. There will be no .
Why Dutton has begun flying in the face of the China hawks
June 27, 2024 As the Australian opposition leaders rhetoric softens dramatically, the days of turning China into an election wedge appear over. China hawks predictably attacked the Albanese government for being too soft on Beijing during Premier Li Qiangs visit to Australia last week. After reiterating a commitment to stabilising ties, Li and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced they had agreed to continue to grow the bilateral relationship and navigate their differences wisely.
An Albanese government in Canberra means an improved trajectory in Australia-China relations is a real possibility. Sure, there will be no re-set like we saw in the heady days of 2015. The world has changed; Australia and China certainly have. And, of course, Beijing will need to be ready to chart a different course, not just Canberra.
Being clear-eyed about China under Xi Jinping is one thing. But managing the relationship effectively also requires Australia to be clear-eyed about the effectiveness of our policy options in response. In plotting Australias approach to managing relations with the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) in the decade ahead, it is important to be clear-eyed about the China that is, rather than the China we wish.
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