Shorten won't give up jobs for China ties

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten says, while Labor wants closer ties with China, that won't come at the expense of Australian jobs.

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten says Labor has always been keen to improve the nation's ties with China - but not at the expense of Australian jobs.

He says the rise of Asia and China is one of the great stories for Australia's future, not just in the next decade but into the next century.

"But what we won't do is allow the labour standards and job security of Australians to be undermined by a weakening of the testing provisions in terms of guest worker provisions in this country," he told reporters in Melbourne on Sunday.