Relations between China and Australia are ‘on the right track’, Prime Minister Li Qiang said on Monday in Canberra, during a visit marked by the easing of economic disputes between the two countries.
The most senior Chinese official to visit Australia since 2017, Mr Li spoke with his counterpart Anthony Albanese after a welcome ceremony at Parliament.
“In less than a year, Mr. Albanese and I have met multiple times and made visits to our respective countries,” Mr. Li said after their meeting.
‘This shows that our countries attach great importance to our relations and that they are on the right path, that of constant improvement and development,’ underlined the Prime Minister.
Mr Li’s visit follows Beijing’s lifting of most trade barriers to Australian exports, including coal, timber, barley and wine.
China and Australia have been at loggerheads in recent years, particularly since an Australian request for an investigation in 2020 into the origin of the Covid-19 pandemic, which Beijing considered political, and Canberra’s decision to exclude equipment manufacturer Huawei of its 5G network.
China then increased its taxes on many Australian products, in particular wine, beef and barley. Most of these surcharges have been lifted thanks to a warming of relations between Beijing and Canberra since Labor came to power in 2022.
Although trade relations are better, Australia is concerned about China’s efforts to increase its influence, including military influence, in the South Pacific.
Mr Li said he had a ‘frank exchange of views on certain differences and disagreements’ with Mr Albanese. The Australian Prime Minister had previously stressed the importance of ‘frank dialogue’.
/ATS
