Anthony Albanese and Chinese President Xi Jinping mark ‘new starting point’ after meeting in Beijing

The Chinese president said his meeting with Anthony Albanese in Beijing marks a new beginning in the relationship between the two nations, which has been fraught for several years.

Xi Jinping shook Albanese’s hand at the start of bilateral talks on Monday, during the first visit by an Australian prime minister in seven years.

It is the second time the pair have met in person, having first met at the G20 summit a year ago.

“With joint efforts from both sides, we have resumed our exchanges in different positions and resolved some issues,” Xi said.

“Now China-Australia relations have entered the right path of improvement and development.”

Mr Albanese said the occasion was “a historic time for me” as it marks 50 years since Gough Whitlam was the first Australian Prime Minister to officially visit China.

Albanese rewrote history on Monday with a private tour of the Temple of Heaven – one of the first stops for Gough Whitlam during his official visit to Beijing in 1973.

“The progress we have made in advancing our relationship (since meeting Xi a year ago) has undoubtedly been very positive,” the prime minister said.

“I believe that we can all benefit from the greater understanding that comes from high-level dialogue and people-to-people ties, and that a strong relationship between our two countries will be beneficial for the future.

‘Where differences arise, it is important that there is communication.’

Earlier in the day, Albanese declined to say whether he trusted China or whether he would invite Xi to visit Australia.

But the prime minister insisted the relationship between the two world leaders was “positive” and that the Chinese president “has never said anything to me that has not been done.”

‘That’s a positive way to deal with people. But we also recognize that we come with different political systems, very different values ​​that come from them and different histories,” he told reporters in Beijing.

‘But we deal with each other on face value. My job is to represent Australia’s national interests. He is the leader of another nation with different interests.”

The comments come after Mr Albanese was warned by US President Joe Biden against fully trusting China while in Washington on a state visit.

The Prime Minister added there were “promising signs” of further stabilization in Australia’s trading relationship with China after a number of punitive tariffs were removed.

‘China is our most important trading partner. It represents more than 25 percent of our exports and one in four of our jobs depend on our trade,” he said. “So it’s an important relationship.”

Mr Albanese said: “(It’s) about Australian jobs; that has an impact on our economy; that has an impact on inflation; it affects how successful we are.

‘We are a trading nation. It is very much in Australia’s national interest for us to be involved, just as it was in Australia’s national interest for me to be involved in the United States.”

Mr Albanese and Mr Xi previously met on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Bali.

Asked whether he would return the favor and invite Mr Xi to Australia, Mr Albanese remained coy.

“I have a meeting this afternoon and I will report back after the meeting on what we discussed,” he said.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong, who arrived in Beijing on Sunday evening, will attend the high-level talks with Mr Albanese before meeting her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi.

Ms Wong said Labor had implemented its policies to improve the relationship between Australia and China, which began to unravel in 2016 when Malcolm Turnbull was prime minister.

The Turnbull government’s crackdown on Chinese foreign interference was followed by his successor Scott Morrison’s call for an independent investigation into the origins of Covid-19.

“Before the election, we told the Australian people that we would work to stabilize the relationship with China without compromising our sovereign interests – and that is what we have done,” Senator Wong said.

“And we look forward to continuing to work on many issues, including the continued removal of trade barriers and many other aspects.”

Last night in Shanghai, the Prime Minister left the door open to China’s future membership of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership.

It came as Chinese Premier Li Qiang, who opened the China International Import Expo, said China would “actively pursue” joining the partnership.

Mr Albanese warned that China must demonstrate the highest possible trade standards if it wants to join the bloc.

Opposition cyber security spokesman James Paterson said Albanese’s trip was an important step in stabilizing the relationship, but warned: “We have to be honest.”

Senator Paterson said China’s track record on trade must remain paramount.

“In my view, it would be absurd to admit as a member of one of the highest standards agreements in the world a country that until recently had imposed up to $20 billion in economic sanctions against the bilateral free trade agreement,” he told ABC. Radio.

“If the Chinese government is unable to adhere to the standards it voluntarily agreed to under the Australian Free Trade Agreement, why would we expect them to behave differently in the future?”

Opposition foreign affairs spokesman Simon Birmingham echoed his counterpart, saying there were “both short-term and long-term barriers” to China’s entry into the CPTPP.

“In the short term, China has not acted in good faith with Australia recently on terms of trade, so we should see a good period of good faith before considering membership,” he told Sky News.

“And the second longer-term problem is that China has really systemic barriers to meeting the high standards of the CPTPP, including strict regulations on how state-owned enterprises operate in their economy. So you should see reforms. in China before membership would be introduced.

Senator Paterson said he hoped Albanese would use his meeting with President Xi to frame a range of issues, including the ongoing “unjustified sanctions” on the Australian economy.

“I think it is important that the Prime Minister addresses the full range of issues in the bilateral relationship with Xi Jinping, including foreign interference and espionage in our democracy, but also the continued detention of Australian citizen Dr. Yang Hengjun,” he said.

“I think they (China) certainly pose national security challenges for Australia in terms of foreign interference and espionage, in terms of cyber-attacks, in terms of intellectual property theft, but also in terms of the malign behavior that they are exhibiting in the South. China Sea,” he said.