China’s premier to travel to Australia on Saturday, first such visit in seven years

June 11 () –

The Prime Minister of China, Li Qiang, will make an official visit to Australia starting this Saturday, as confirmed this Tuesday by his Australian counterpart, Anthony Albanese, in what will be the first trip of this type in seven years, an example of the improvement of diplomatic relations between both countries.

Albanese’s office has indicated in a statement published on its website that Li will be in Australia between June 15 and 18 and has added that he will hold a meeting in Parliament, where they will “exchange views on bilateral, regional and international”.

Likewise, he stated that Li will also travel to Adeilada and Perth and added that both will hold meetings with Australian and Chinese businessmen in a round table, which “will make a valuable contribution to strengthening relations between business leaders in China and Australia.”

“Li Qiang’s visit to Australia is an important opportunity to directly address key issues for both nations,” said Albanese, who stressed that “China is Australia’s largest trading partner and the economic relationship continues to provide substantial benefits to both. countries”.

“Welcoming the Chinese Prime Minister to our country is an opportunity for Australia to advance our interests by demonstrating our national values, the qualities of our people and our economic strengths,” he stressed, while saying that Australia seeks ” a stable and direct relationship” with China. “We will cooperate where we can, we will disagree where we must and we will act in line with our national interests,” she concluded.

Li’s visit to Australia will take place after Albanese traveled to Beijing in November 2023, a trip in which both countries agreed to resume bilateral dialogue on key issues and expand areas of cooperation.

China imposed a series of tariffs on Australian exports a year after Australian authorities called for an international investigation into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic, if most of these measures have been withdrawn since Albanese came to power in 2022 .