According to the announcement from Marise Payne, the Minister for Foreign Affairs in Australia, Australia has canceled the Belt and Road agreement with China, which was signed in 2018 and 2019.

Among them, Marise Payne mentioned that the agreement was inconsistent with Australian foreign policy and also adverse to its foreign relations.

The action did elicit a sharp response from China a few hours later. Wang Xining, the deputy head of the Chinese embassy in Canberra, argued that the action of Australia was an unreasonable provocation, which might seriously damage the relationship between both countries.