Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has confirmed he will visit China “before the end of the year”.
An invitation from President Xi Jinping has been extended to Mr Albanese for some months now, but it was only after a meeting with Premier Li Qiang on the sidelines of the East Asia Summit in Indonesia that he committed to visiting before the year was over.
While an official date is still yet to be confirmed, the promise came after Mr Albanese had a “frank and constructive discussion” with Mr Li about the ongoing work to repair the relationship between the two countries.
Mr Albanese had initially planned to meet with Chinese president Xi Jinping later in the week on the sidelines of the G20 event in India, but the leader bowed out of the visit in a snub to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Mr Albanese said he’d used the meeting to raise the cases of detained Australians Cheng Lei and Yang Hengjun; human rights concerns; as well as the ongoing trade impediments – reiterating that Australia was seeking “productive and stable relations with China based on mutual benefit and respect”.
China scrapped its tariffs on Australian barley earlier this year, but has yet to wind back restrictions on Australian wine.
Asked whether he had the assurance of Mr Li that Beijing would drop its wine tariffs, Mr Albanese said that was “not the nature of these discussions”.
“The nature of these discussions is that if issues are raised, officials continue to work on these issues,” he said.
“That essentially is how the barley issue was resolved in the interest of both of our countries, and it was acknowledged that we have an interest in working these issues through.”
Mr Albanese said there had also been “discussion” about the region, including the South China Sea – topical after China launched its new “standard map”, featuring disputed territories, which has raised concerns.
“We all have an interest in a peaceful, secure and prosperous region. That is something that is our starting point,” he said.
After Treasurer Jim Chalmers earlier this week warned that Australia’s economic outlook was contingent on how significantly China’s economy weakened, Mr Albanese said Mr Li had been positive about the situation.
“He spoke about the rise of the middle class in China as well, which they hope to double from 400 million to 800 million by 2035,” Mr Albanese said.
“It is a considerable achievement of China that they have lifted up millions of people out of poverty over recent decades. That is an important source of pride and it is understandable that that is a source of pride for China.”
Later on Thursday, Mr Albanese will travel to Philippines for the first prime ministerial bilateral visit in 20 years.
“Philippines is a critical nation for Australia. We have very strong economic relations with the Philippines, we also have strong connections when it comes to defence,” he said.