Charting a Shared Path

Australia and China Collaborate on Sustainable Finance Alignment 

In June 2025, the inaugural roundtable of the Australia-China Sustainable Finance Taxonomy Roadmap project took place in Canberra, bringing together leading researchers, policy experts, and finance sector representatives from both countries. 

The project is a collaboration between The University of Western Australia, The University of Queensland, The Australian National University, the Australian Sustainable Finance Institute, the International Institute of Green Finance of the Central University of Finance and Economics (China), and the Institute for Finance and Sustainability (Beijing), with funding from the National Foundation for Australia–China Relations. 

The roundtable marked the first in a series of expert workshops focused on identifying opportunities for sustainable finance cooperation between Australia and China. 

A deeply interconnected economic relationship 

Australia and China share deeply complementary economies, with a strong trade relationship that has underpinned robust growth in both countries for several decades. However, this relationship is poised to evolve through the global energy transition.  

Increased demand for decarbonised products and national decarbonisation targets are creating pressure for change, alongside evolving international policies such as the EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism. Together, these drivers will force significant change in how key industries in the bilateral trade relationship operate, including mining, minerals and metals.  

Green supply chains as a shared opportunity 

This moment presents a shared opportunity. By creating green supply chains, supported by policy initiatives such as the Australian Government’s Future Made in Australia, both countries can align environmental goals with continued economic cooperation. 

As outlined in ASFI’s recent report, Maximising Australia’s green growth: Leveraging trade and aid policy to drive Australia’s green exports agenda, Australia has the potential to be an international leader in the production of green minerals and metals essential to the global clean energy transition. At the same time, China’s manufacturing sector is a critical end-user of these materials. Linking Australia’s domestic supply policy with China’s demand provides a path for mutual benefit. 

Finance alignment as a key enabler 

Realising this opportunity will require unlocking substantial capital flows. The alignment of sustainable finance frameworks across borders will underpin this investment, providing confidence to investors in the integrity of green and transition activities.  

This project sets the agenda for such alignment, identifying a roadmap for future collaboration. The first roundtable focused on key areas for collaboration, including: 

• Sustainable finance taxonomies, with a focus on mapping green and transition activities; 

• Transition screening criteria and joint transition planning; and 

• Green trade and the development of low-carbon supply chains between Australia and China 

These shared focus areas will provide a foundation for enabling cross-border investment in green industries. 

A roadmap for long-term collaboration 

The Canberra roundtable was a first step in setting the agenda for further cooperation. Participants explore several topics of shared interest, and insights included:  

• Interoperability is about finding the common denominator, notwithstanding local variations that will necessarily exist in country-level taxonomies. Work to identify these points, through processes such as the Multijurisdictional- Common Ground Taxonomy (MCGT), could support the increased flow of capital between Australia and China; 

• There is also an opportunity to apply the MCGT comparison approach beyond its current scope to transition finance criteria, which would enable investment in the sectors that require the most support to decarbonise across our shared supply chains; and 

• In addition to creating the right sustainable finance frameworks, support is required to uplift market understanding of how to utilise them and benefit from the opportunities they create.  

This initial dialogue will be built upon through follow-up workshops in Beijing and Hong Kong later in 2025. Through collaboration, Australia and China can pioneer new approaches to sustainable finance, which in turn can shape global frameworks and position both countries at the heart of future economic growth.