Victoria Premier Jacinta Allan visited Beijing, Shanghai, Nanjing and Chengdu from Sept 14–19 in her first official trip to China since taking office. She said the five-day visit aimed to boost trade, investment, education and tourism, positioning Victoria as a top destination for Chinese business, students and visitors. Allan also sought Chinese investment in the Suburban Rail Loop and surrounding housing projects.
Several Labor MPs, including representatives of Chinese-Australian constituencies, joined the trip. During the visit, Allan announced a A$2 million support package for nine Chinese community organisations across Victoria. Funded projects include upgrading Bendigo’s Golden Dragon Museum into a National Chinese Museum of Australia, infrastructure improvements at Melbourne’s Chinese Museum, Springvale South’s Mingyue Buddhist Temple, and Deer Park’s Quang Minh Temple.
Allan and Multicultural Affairs Minister Ingrid Stitt also unveiled the Victorian Multicultural Review, which recommends creating a statutory body, Multicultural Victoria, led by a Chief Multicultural Commissioner with two deputies and a five-member advisory board to strengthen social cohesion and trust.
Allan avoided commenting on the controversy surrounding former premier Daniel Andrews’ China trip, saying her focus remained on trade and education. The visit comes ahead of the November 2026 state election, seen as part of her efforts to consolidate support among Chinese-Australian and multicultural communities.