Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard is walking on tight rope as she pursue both trade and diplomacy issues in China as she meets her counterparts Prime Minister Wen Jiabiao and President Hu Jintao today.

Prime Minister Gillard said in a press briefing that she wished to spur good trade relations with Asia's super power China but she knew that several human rights issues will get in the way.

Like other Western countries, Australia cannot do without their existing trade relations with China, but are not in favour of human rights violations promoted by the Chinese leaders in adherence to their authoritarian-yet-modern Communist ways.

"We've got a constructive relationship with China but we do have differences," Gillard said in Seoul on Monday, Australia's AAP news agency reported.

"It's a key focus of my trip to be there seeking to strengthen our economic relationship," she told reporters, referring to China.

"We do raise human rights, we raise them in the context of seeking China's assurance that the freedoms that are guaranteed for its people in its constitution are being observed and that China is not taking a backwards step on human rights."

No advanced economy is as dependent on China for its fortunes as Australia, Reuters reported. China acquires more than a quarter of Australian exports, having overtaken Japan as the country's largest trading partner in early 2009. Two-way annual trade has now passed A$100 billion, up from A$57 billion in 2009.

Nevertheless, Canberra also a close ally of the United States, shares Washington's concerns in terms of policies on North Korea, human rights, among other regional concerns.