Three days of talks pitched as a mission to stabilise the relationship with Australia’s largest trading partner wrapped up on Tuesday after meetings with President Xi Jinping, Premier Li Qiang and others.
The two countries pledged to resume annual leaders’ meetings and work together on trade, another positive step amid the easing of tariffs China had imposed on a range of Australian goods in retaliation for comments from Canberra about COVID-19, human rights and other issues.
Albanese hailed the visit, the first since 2016, as a success, calling it the “next step” in stabilising a relationship that was “so important for Australia’s economy and also important in terms of security and stability in the region”.
“Dialogue is always a good thing,” he said.
“And when China represents more than one in four of our export dollars and more than one in four Australian jobs depends upon our exports, this is an important relationship.”
Albanese made a stir on Chinese social media with a video walking through Shanghai wearing a Matildas jersey and Rabbitohs cap.
The clip apparently made it as far as Li.
“People were saying that we have a handsome boy coming from Australia,” Li said.
Albanese wasn’t so quick to comment.
“I’m not quite sure how to respond to that … but I think I’ll let that one go through to the keeper,” he said.
Both sides welcomed the renewal of regular diplomatic communication, after China froze out Australian ministers completely under the former Coalition government.
They agreed they could “grow the bilateral relationship and uphold their respective national interests if they navigated their differences wisely”.
That included commitments to talks on trade — including intellectual property, competition and education — climate and energy.
There’s also an agreement to allow multi-entry business and visitor visas lasting as long as five years, for both countries.
“While there are differences between Australia and China, we agree that our differences should not define us,” Albanese said.
“Dialogue was at the heart of my conversations and I used this visit to advocate for Australia’s interests, including on trade, consular, human rights and global issues.”
But Strategic Analysis Australia director Michael Shoebridge urged caution.
“The bigger picture is China is a destabilising power and a relationship that we say is stable isn’t,” he told 9News.
Relations went into a spiral in recent years as suspicions of Chinese interference in Australian politics increased and China hit out at Australia’s call for an inquiry into the origins of the pandemic and allegations it was seeking to intimidate members of the Chinese-Australian community.
Beijing levied official tariffs and unofficial trade barriers that are estimated to have cost Australian exporters up to $20 billion a year for commodities such as coal, wine, beef, barley and lobsters.
The coal and barley charges have been dropped but the beef and lobster taxes remain, while Albanese is confident of good news on wine soon.
Albanese’s next stop is the Cook Islands for the Pacific Islands Forum, a region where China has been wielding increasing influence.
Xi meets with US President Joe Biden next week in a major moment for the relationship between the rival powers.
– Reported with Associated Press
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