Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Tuesday strongly called for the resumption of free and unimpeded trade with China in a meeting with his counterpart Li Qiang on his 'historic' visit to Beijing, his first after seven years.
Albanese commented that the two countries should discuss various "ways to shape a regional and global order that is peaceful, stable and prosperous, where countries respect the sovereignty and meet their obligations under international law and conventions", especially in areas of climate change, food security and transnational crime.
In a reference to ongoing hostilities between China and the United States, the Australian premier said that geostrategic competition must be handled through "dialogue and understanding". "We can grow the relationship while advancing our respective interests if we wisely navigate when there are differences," Albanese said.
Meanwhile, Li also expressed hope that relations between Australia and China improve in the future and that both sides continue to work together to sustain "this positive moment".
Albanese meets Chinese President Xi Jinping
During his visit, Albanese met Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday as both leaders welcomed the gradual improvement in ties in the past year and emphasised the importance of engaging with each other despite differences on issues such as defence.
Notably, China, a major market for Australia, has lifted some trade restrictions on Australian products since the two leaders first met in Bali, Indonesia, in November 2022. “The progress we have made in advancing our relationship over that time has been unquestionably very positive,” Albanese said in opening remarks to Xi before the media. "Trade is flowing more freely to the benefit of both countries.”
Xi said that both sides had resumed exchanges of views and worked out some problems. The two leaders also joked about pandas and Tasmanian devils. Xi talked about his visits to Australia, and described Tasmanian devils as cute, the Australian leader said. When Albanese said that they probably weren't as cute as pandas, Xi replied that not all pandas were cute, citing the Kung Fu Panda movie.
Why did relations between Australia and China plunge?
Relations nosedived in recent years as suspicions of Chinese interference in Australian politics increased. China, in turn, was angered by Australia's call for an inquiry into the origins of the COVID-19 virus. China levied tariffs and unofficial trade barriers that are estimated to have cost Australian exporters up to 20 billion Australian dollars ($13 billion) a year for products such as coal, wine, beef, barley and lobsters.
Those barriers have since been substantially reduced and now cost about $2 billion Australian dollars ($1.3 billion).
China has signalled that it is moving toward lifting punishing tariffs on Australian wine that dealt a severe setback to the industry. “We even had a bit of a debate about wine and the quality," Albanese told reporters.
When asked by a journalist, Albanese confirmed that he had raised the case of Yang Hengjun, an Australian democracy blogger who has been detained in China for almost five years, but didn't say how Xi responded.
(with inputs from AP)
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