Australia hails Xi meeting as step towards stabilising ties

Bloomberg

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese hailed a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday as a move toward normalizing ties that have spiraled in recent years.
“This was another important step towards the stabilization of the Australia-China relationship,” Albanese said in a statement after meeting Xi in Bali on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit for about 30 minutes. “We are always going to be better off when we talk to each other, calmly and directly. There are many steps yet to take.”
Xi said there have been difficulties in China-Australia ties in recent years, a situation he doesn’t want to see, according to state-run CCTV. There are no fundamental conflicts between the two countries and there’s huge potential for trade cooperation, he added.
It was the first face-to-face meeting between leaders of China and Australia in almost three years, after relations rapidly deteriorated between Beijing and Canberra during the Covid-19 pandemic. Former Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s call for an international investigation into the origins of Covid-19 in April 2020 prompted China to place trade sanctions on a number of Australian exports, including wine, barley and coal.
The disagreement escalated to the World Trade Organization, and Albanese has previously said the lifting of the sanctions on Australia would be a precondition for any major warming in the relationship with China.
Yet both countries have maintained a close economic relationship despite the long-running diplomatic tensions. China is Australia’s largest trading partner, particularly when it comes to Beijing’s large, lucrative demand for iron ore.
When asked several times by reporters about any progress in China lifting trade sanctions against some Australian exports following his meeting with Xi, Albanese said he has raised the issue “clearly” while noting discussions were not at a “commercial level.”
“It was a positive discussion,” Albanese said. “We put forward our position. It was not anticipated that a meeting such as that you get immediate declarations.”
Since coming to power in May, Albanese’s center-left Labor government has worked to stabilize the relationship with Beijing, with the prime minister saying they would “cooperate where they can” while still standing up for Australia’s domestic interests. The new prime minister has maintained his predecessor’s move towards strengthening security ties with the US, including the Quad and Aukus security groupings.
The arrest of a number of Australian citizens in China has continued to be an irritant between the two nations.