CHINA, AUSTRALIA TO RESTART ANNUAL MEETINGS AS TRADE RESUMES – Albanese agrees with China on upholding their respective national interests
Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese met Chinese Premier Li Qiang in Beijing this morning, in what Albanese said was an annual leaders’ meeting that would continue as relations between the trading partners stabilised.
Albanese is in China on the first visit by an Australian leader in seven years, after a diplomatic dispute had put a halt to once-annual meetings of leaders. He received a ceremonial welcome with Li in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Tuesday.
Albanese said he agreed with China that both nations would be able to grow their relationship and uphold their respective national interests if they navigate their differences. President Xi Jinping said stable ties between China and Australia served each other’s interests and both should expand their cooperation, sending a clear signal that China was ready to move on from recent tensions.