The agreement has long been controversial, with the Federal Government consistently sceptical about China's motives. The deal also aims to increase collaboration in high-end manufacturing, biotech, agriculture technology and to share expertise and training in social areas such as aged care. Victoria’s trade deficit with China has ballooned. Map showing key cities and ports in the Belt and Road Initiative. The federal government will immediately examine whether it should scrap Victoria's Belt and Road agreement with China, as one of Australia's top national security academics says states must equip themselves with national security units to better manage foreign influence. Victoria is standing by its Belt and Road deal with China in the face of frosty bilateral relations and foreign interference legislation. Why does he believe it's in Victoria's interest?" Premier Daniel Andrews has defended the Belt and Road memorandum of understanding with China, claiming that it would deliver new business opportunities to Victoria’s business sector and open up a large international market. The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI, or B&R), known in Chinese and formerly in English as One Belt One Road (Chinese: 一带一路) or OBOR for short, is a global infrastructure development strategy adopted by the Chinese government in 2013 to invest in nearly 70 countries and international organizations. “But ... international students not coming would have been a problem.”. Economists attribute the widening trade gap to the lockdowns and border closures which damaged the lucrative tourism and higher education markets. “Nearly half of all Australia’s exports to China are iron ore, so Victoria will always record a deficit,” Mr Oster said. “Construction, globally, is a very, very competitive industry ... and anything we can do to give Victorian companies and Victorian workers an edge, that’s exactly the right thing to do.”. Victoria’s trade deficit with China has grown since Belt and Road deal. It is essentially a commitment by Victoria to work together with Beijing on future projects for the benefit of both parties. “We need a strong partnership, Victoria has one, and we would hope that every state and territory and indeed the Commonwealth would have a strong partnership and a friendship with China.”. "Why does he believe this is in our national interest? The premier signed a memorandum of understanding with China's National Development and Reform Commission to support the $1.5 trillion Belt and Road Initiative in 2018, making Victoria the only government in the country to do so. He should hold off, at least for now. I haven't heard the rationale or the reasoning behind what seemed to be a pretty rushed decision.". Victoria traditionally hosts about one third of Australia’s total onshore enrolments of international students, with most students coming from China. Noel Towell is Economics Editor for The Age, Andrews signs new Belt and Road deal with China: 'the right thing to do'. The federal government has given Victoria until tomorrow (10 March) to explain why its Belt and Road Initiative deal with China should not be ripped up. International trade figures show Victoria’s trade deficit with China has worsened since the signing of a controversial deal with Beijing and ballooned further since COVID-19 border closures and lockdown ravaged the state’s service economy. Victoria is the only government in Australia to sign a memorandum of understanding with China’s National Development and Reform Commission. Victoria signed China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) – a deal with China in 2018. Photograph: @danielAndrewsMP/Twitter Victoria’s trade deficit with China has ballooned. Credit:Joe Armao. Victoria has signed a fresh deal with the Chinese government and its global Belt and Road infrastructure project with Premier Daniel Andrews urging other Australian governments to follow suit. The Case for Australia Keeping Victoria’s Belt and Road Deal Prime Minister Morrison now has the power to quash the state’s MoU with China. Wednesday’s deal was signed only a few hours after federal Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton questioned whether the Premier’s trade efforts in China were in the “national interest”. China and Victoria also hope to build two-way trade in food and cosmetics with talks already underway on accreditation of Victorian abattoirs to supply beef and lamb to China. States and territories that export minerals maintained strong trade activity with China last year while Victoria’s two major service exports – international tourism and international education – were brought to a standstill by global and local restrictions. Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews is currently touring China. “I think most Australians would say that was good. The agreement sets out a number of areas of co-operation, including attempts to get more Chinese companies involved in Victoria’s massive $107 billion infrastructure “big build” and for companies from the state to get work on the Belt and Road projects around the world. The Morrison government will have to wait for new powers to rip up Victoria's controversial "Belt and Road" deal with China, after failing to push its legislation through federal parliament on Thursday. The deal is currently being assessed by the federal government. There were certainly questions asked when Victoria first signed a memorandum of understanding to join China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in 2018, but it … The Premier said the new agreement would give Victorian firms the “inside running” on infrastructure projects in China and in other countries. Annika is state political editor for The Age. Will Morrison act on his long-felt and justifiable wish now to ensure a consistent national foreign policy? It follows the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between Victoria and China on the Belt and Road Initiative in 2018. Victoria’s trade deficit with China has ballooned. Victorian premier Daniel Andrews signed a memorandum of understanding in 2018 with China to work together on belt and road initiatives. Victoria aims to sign a road map for investment under China’s Belt and Road Initiative within weeks, as Beijing ramps up trade tensions with Australia. Very large text size Laws that give the Commonwealth powers to cancel deals such as Victoria's Belt and Road agreement with China passed Federal Parliament on Tuesday afternoon, paving the way for the controversial deal to be scrapped within months. “Our trade strategy is about creating jobs for Victorians and opening up avenues for exporters,” the spokesman said. Victoria’s Belt and Road Initiative deal undermines cohesive national China policy. The new deal follows on from a memorandum of understanding between Victoria and China on the Belt and Road initiative signed in 2018, which also attracted criticism from the federal Coalition government. Opposition trade spokesman Matthew Guy said the latest statistics proved the Belt and Road deal was “one-way traffic that works against Victoria”. The federal government has given Victoria until March 10 to explain why its Belt and Road Initiative deal with China should not be ripped up. But the controversial deal was unpopular with the federal government and late last year the Commonwealth passed new laws allowing them to tear up deals between Australian states and organisations and foreign governments. "It's a decision that's been made by Mr Andrews, so he can justify the decision. Victoria agreed to the deal with Beijing as part of the country's $1.4trillion Belt and Road initiative - which invests in projects in dozens of countries across the world. The Framework Agreement on the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) agreed between the Victorian Government and the National Development and Reform Commission of the People’s Republic of China in October 2019 builds on the existing BRI Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed in October 2018. (AAP) Liberal MPs want the Morrison government to move quickly to rip up Victoria’s Belt and Road Initiative deal, instead­ of delayin­g the decis­ion and … Victoria's economic prosperity relies strongly on its relationship with China, with China being Victoria's largest trading partner. The agreement, signed in Beijing on Wednesday evening, will deepen cooperation between the state and the Communist-ruled country in the key areas of infrastructure, innovation, ageing and trade development. The trade deficit with China has almost doubled since 2014 and has increased by about 25 per cent in the years since the signing of the memorandum of understanding, which the Andrews government said was about improving jobs and trade outcomes for Victoria. The U.S. warns it will 'simply disconnect' from Australia if Victoria sucking up to China becomes a security risk. Victoria is a large provider of food and fibre products to China, and China is Victoria's largest source of international students and tourists. A spokesman for Victorian Trade Minister Martin Pakula said Australia-China and Victoria-China balances of trade are not directly comparable given Australia’s exported natural resources are largely extracted from outside Victoria. “The most important partnerships are built on trust and hard work,” he said. The Victorian government’s Belt and Road Initiative program is a zombie project that has its own inertia and is proceeding despite the world changing around it. Opposition leader Anthony Albanese has spoken out about Victoria’s Belt and Road deal with China, promising any future Labor federal government he leads will shun the initiative. Premier Daniel Andrews signed the agreement with China on Wednesday night. Updated Updated 08/12/2020. It's technically a non-legally binding agreement for Victoria to be involved in the Belt and Road project; the Silk Road for the 21st century that includes new ports, highways and railways across the globe. Mr Andrews encouraged other state governments and the Commonwealth to follow Victoria’s example. The passage of the Foreign Relations Bill has given Canberra the power to scrap Victoria’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) deal. 22 May 2020 | Michael Shoebridge. Despite ongoing trade tensions, Australia recorded its fourth-highest goods trade surplus on record in December, bolstered by exports of metalliferous ores and cereals, which includes materials such as iron ore, copper and gold. Overview. And it allows the state’s engineering and design firms to bid for contracts for belt and road initiative projects around the world. The Premier shrugged off concerns on Wednesday about Victoria strengthening its ties with China at a time when the Australian government’s relationships with the rising power was strained. Protesters against China’s Belt and Road Initiative gather in front of the Parliament House of Victoria in Melbourne, Australia on June 7, 2020. Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has said he is not reconsidering the state's Belt and Road agreement with China amid the escalating diplomatic tensions between the two nations. It needs to be halted and comprehensively reassessed. China remains the state’s largest two-way trading partner but the latest figures show the state’s exports to China dropped last year while China’s exports to Victoria grew. Credit:Eamon Gallagher. The four-page Memorandum of Understanding, posted online late on Sunday, says the two parties will "work together within the Belt and Road Initiative", China's trillion-dollar project to revive an ancient network of land and ocean trade routes. The figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics also reveal that since Victoria signed its Belt and Road agreement with China in October 2018, the state has imported a cumulative $42 billion more from the Asian superpower than it has exported. Dec 8, 2020 – 6.13pm The Morrison government faces a dilemma over how quickly it moves to tear up Victoria's Belt and Road deal with China … The $1 trillion Belt and Road Initiative is Chinese President Xi Jinping’s signature policy to invest in infrastructure globally including roads, rail, pipelines and telecommunications systems. This Chinese Initiative is a huge and ambitious project worth trillions of dollars that involves China co-funding hundreds of infrastructure projects all over the world. But Western governments, including Australia and the US, increasingly view it as a foreign policy and propaganda tool, as well as a potential debt trap for developing nations. “Especially when China keeps sending a lot of stuff our way,” he said. Very large text size Victoria has signed a fresh deal with the Chinese government and its global Belt and Road infrastructure project with Premier Daniel Andrews urging other Australian governments to follow suit. “We’d always hope that the federal government would have a similar approach to us, to work closely with China for the benefit of Victorian workers, and I note the Prime Minister has had some meetings with some very senior Chinese officials in the last couple of days,” the Premier said. NAB economist Alan Oster said COVID-19 restrictions damaged the international education market which contributed to the widening trade deficit. “Partnerships with foreign governments should work both ways but Labor’s Belt and Road doesn’t, it only works for Chinese interests with no Victorian benefit,” Mr Guy said. (Grace … Beijing is watching, and Canberra is thinking. The figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics also reveal that since Victoria signed its Belt and Road agreement with China in October 2018, the state has imported a cumulative $42 billion more from the Asian superpower than it has exported. International education has been Victoria’s largest services export for the past 10 years, generating more than $13.7 billion in revenue in 2019 and propping up more than 70,000 jobs. Mr Dutton told reporters in Canberra on Wednesday. Premier Daniel Andrews signed the agreement with China on Wednesday night. The Victorian government has bowed to pressure and released its agreement with China on the Belt and Road Initiative as experts warn that the decision to sign on could be unconstitutional. Victorian Premier Dan Andrews signed a memorandum of understanding in 2018 with China relating to its mega, $1.5 trillion 'One Belt, One Road' policy, but the deal - which would have given Beijing's funding and control of key Victorian infrastructure - came under heavy criticism. The Morrison government's latest push to curb foreign influence has passed parliament, meaning Victoria's Belt and Road deal with China could be in jeopardy.

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