Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will meet with Chinese Premier Li Qiang on the sidelines of the Asean summit in Jakarta on Thursday, in the latest sign of warming relations between Canberra and Beijing.
The Australian leader was initially intending to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping during the Group of 20 summit in India later this week. However, with Xi no longer attending the gathering, Albanese will meet with the Chinese government’s second-in-command on Thursday morning.
Ties between Australia and China have been steadily improving since the election of the center-left Labor government in May 2022, including the resumption of senior ministerial meetings and the relaxation of a number of trade sanctions imposed by Beijing at the height of tensions in 2020.
Albanese and Li are likely to discuss the Australian prime minister’s potential visit to Beijing, tentatively planned to take place before the end of the year, and the remaining tariffs on Australian wine exports to China.
The meeting is taking place as Australia and China hold their first High-Level Dialogue in three years in Beijing, led by former Trade Minister Craig Emerson and former Minister of Foreign Affairs Li Zhaoxing.
