<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Prime Minister </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/anthony-albanese" rel="" target="_blank" title="Anthony Albanese"><span>Anthony Albanese</span></a><span> has dismissed concerns that his government's bid to end Chinese ownership of the Port of Darwin could bring blowback from Beijing, as he prepares for a face-to-face meeting with China President Xi Jinping today.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Albanese will meet the Chinese leader as part of his week-long official visit to the country, during which he has focused largely on tourism and trade and touted his success at re-establishing stable relationships.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>But the prime minister's election commitment to overturn the 99-year lease of the Port of Darwin to Chinese firm Landbridge, which has already sparked consternation in China, could become a sore point, along with other issues such as Australia's stance on Taiwan and Chinese live-fire exercises off the Australian coast.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/baby-boomers-fastest-growing-demographic-investing-in-cryptocurrency-at-risk-of-scams-personal-finance-news/d689a031-c777-4d74-8550-69d7501a07eb" rel="" target="_blank" title=""><strong><span>Baby Boomers now fastest growing group of crypto investors, vulnerable to scams</span></strong></a><strong><span></span></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Albanese yesterday said he did not expect any blowback from the issue.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"We had a very clear position that we want the port to go into Australian ownership," he said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"We've been clear about it, we've been orderly about it, and we will go through that process."</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/national/anthony-albanese-xi-jinping-meeting-beijing-china-port-of-darwin-ownership/8b08fe35-f9c4-4635-8117-ffea3f271f2d" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>International affairs expert Professor James Curran also said the idea China might resort to economic coercion on key Australian exports, including iron ore, was "laughable".</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/russia-ukraine-donald-trump-threatens-vladimir-putin-tariffs-over-war/f04604f6-f2a5-4096-b575-3d2431a7a4b7" rel="" target="_blank" title=""><strong><span>Trump drops the hammer on Putin with incredible threat</span></strong></a><strong><span></span></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I really don't think the Chinese will take that step. We know what China's economic coercion looks like in this country. Unfortunately, it did backfire on China," he told </span><em><span>Today</span></em><span>.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"They hit us on on six key export industries under the Morrison government. Now all of those are off at the moment.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I would have thought that the Chinese do not want to get back into that kind of punitive trade behaviour at this particular time."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Curran queried the government's motivation over the issue, saying two previous reviews had concluded there was no serious strategic concern over the Landbridge lease.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"The sensitivity is twofold. It's about Australia keeping critical infrastructure in Australian hands," he said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"But I think it's also more about how close this port is to the US Marines that are rotating through Darwin each year."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/how-to-follow-9news-digital/29855bb1-ad3d-4c38-bc25-3cb52af1216f" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP</span></em></strong></a><strong><em><span>: Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. 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