PRIME Minister Julia Gillard has declared China to be "pivotal to Australia's political, strategic and economic interests" as she starts her second visit to the nation.
Ms Gillard has arrived on the Chinese resort island of Hainan ahead of trade and security talks, including her first official meeting with new Chinese president Xi Jinping, on Sunday.
The visit comes as North Korea reportedly moved a missile capable of hitting South Korea and Japan, an action which drew condemnation as being provocative.
Before she left, Ms Gillard spoke on the phone with South Korean president Park Geun-hye, expressing Australia's strong concerns over North Korea, which she says "poses a serious risk to regional security".
Speaking to reporters in Sanya, Ms Gillard toughened her language.
"This is a regime that cannot feed and properly care for its people, that engages in some of the worst human rights abuses that we've seen around the world," she said.
"It is not in the interests of North Korea's people for this kind of belligerence to be demonstrated by the leadership of North Korea."
With Australia and China both members of the UN Security Council, the talks between Ms Gillard and President Xi will take on greater significance.
The prime minister said she would urge President Xi, who also heads China's military, to "use its influence" to bring North Korea back to "trust-building dialogue".
Ms Gillard's trip will open with her attendance at the Boao Forum for Asia - an investment, economics and trade summit which was co-founded by former prime minister Bob Hawke.
"China is absolutely pivotal to Australia's political, economic and strategic interests," she said.
She will meet International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde on Saturday, and later address Chinese and Australian business leaders at a lunch where she will hold bilateral meetings with some of the nine other national leaders attending the forum.
On Sunday she will address the Boao Forum and meet informally and officially with President Xi. Ministers Bob Carr and Craig Emerson are also expected to be in the meeting.
Ms Gillard is expected to use a brief visit to Shanghai - where Financial Services Minister Bill Shorten will join the delegation - to announce a new deal in currency trade between the two countries, which could help business and investment.
Opposition foreign affairs spokeswoman Julie Bishop, who is attending the Boao Forum, said she had heard concerns from Chinese business chiefs trying to invest in Australia.
"They are not made to feel welcome," she said.
Also on the agenda will be the strengthening of defence ties through more exchanges of senior military personnel, joint activities and information sharing.
Hainan Island is close to China's nuclear submarine base and the gateway to the South China Sea, with its many hotly disputed territories.
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