Baird refuses to give China trip details

Premier Mike Baird has dismissed claims from Labor Senator Sam Dastyari that he is hiding details of his recent trade trip to China.

NSW Premier Mike Baird

NSW Premier Mike Baird is refusing to give details of his recent trade tour to China. (AAP)

Premier Mike Baird is refusing to give details of his trade tour to China amid accusations from Labor and unions that he is planning to sell NSW power assets to Chinese investors.

Mr Baird was repeatedly asked during a tense press conference to reveal details of his September trip to China after Labor senator Sam Dastyari accused the premier of failing to disclose who he met with in his official diary.

"There is a different process for international trips - that's well established," he told reporters on Wednesday, explaining why the details of his trip had yet to be fully disclosed.

Mr Baird was pressed further to reveal which companies and investors were present during a round-table meeting he attended on the trip.

He again refused to answer the question directly, insisting he may have met with "hundreds, if not thousands" of people during his time as treasurer and premier.

"I'm not going to get into the details of individual meetings, forums, a whole range of investment discussions I may have had," he said.

A spokesman for Mr Baird said legal advice given to the Department of Premier and Cabinet indicated the release of ministers' meetings while on official overseas missions should not be disclosed through the ministerial diary process as there is "appropriate disclosure" of such meetings through mission reports.

While the mission report for Mr Baird's China trip outlines some of the key figures he met, it doesn't include a full list of investors and businesses who held meetings with the premier and his delegation.

Senator Dastyari's comments overnight came as state Treasurer Andrew Constance's office revealed he had met with the State Grid Corporation of China - the largest state-owned electric utilities company in the world.

Mr Baird was campaigning in Sydney's CBD on Wednesday to mark a construction milestone for James Packer's $2 billion Barangaroo development.

Amid a sea of hard hats and fluoro safety vests on the 43rd floor, Mr Baird said there was a risk that projects such as Barangaroo would be "put on hold" should Labor win government on Saturday.


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Source: AAP


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