Media tycoon urges the PM to visit China and ease tensions

Seven Group Executive Chairman Kerry Stokes has urged the Prime Minister to visit China and reset the relationship with Beijing.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison (left) talks with Seven West Media chairman Kerry Stokes.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison (left) talks with Seven West Media chairman Kerry Stokes. Source: AAP

Billionaire media tycoon Kerry Stokes has urged Scott Morrison to visit China to reset the relationship with Australia's number one trading partner.

The advice comes as the prime minister prepares to jet off to the US next week to attend a state dinner at the White House with President Donald Trump.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison is being urged to do more to ease tensions with the Asian powerhouse.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison is being urged to do more to ease tensions with the Asian powerhouse. Source: AAP
Mr Stokes' appeal for the prime minister to meet China President Xi Jinping comes amid tensions between the two countries over foreign interference and a damaging trade war between the US and the Asian giant which is impacting on the global economy.

He told The Australian newspaper that anyone who cares about Australia's future should be worried about its relationship with China.
"Australia's entire future is based on our ability to trade and China is our largest trading partner, Mr Stokes, the executive chairman of the Seven Group, said. .

"Our whole standard of living is virtually determined by the exports we make to China."

An Australian prime minister has not visited China since Malcolm Turnbull in April 2016, although Mr Morrison did meet the Chinese president on the sidelines of the G20 in Osaka, Japan earlier this year.


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Media tycoon urges the PM to visit China and ease tensions | SBS News