Canberra, November 3 (AP) Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will make a three-day visit to China and will be the first Prime Minister of the country to do so in the last seven years, which shows that bilateral relations between the two countries have improved.
There have been many differences between the two countries regarding trade and security which have not been resolved yet.
Last year, Albanese’s center-left government began efforts to ease tensions after nine years of Conservative Party rule. His three-day visit will begin on Saturday in which he will visit Shanghai and Beijing. However, very limited information is currently available about his travel itinerary.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping met the Australian Prime Minister twice in six months in 2016, but since then China had broken off top ministerial contacts. Australian exporters have lost up to $13 billion due to formal and informal trade restrictions since 2020.
Many people believe that the trade boycott is also hurting China, which is in economic trouble, while Australia is showing no signs of bowing to Beijing’s dominance.
“It is in Australia’s interests to maintain good relations with China,” Albanese told reporters last month when announcing the visit.
Albanese’s government is also strengthening security ties with America.
Shi Yinhong, a professor of international relations at Renmin University of China in Beijing, said China wanted to improve trade ties after a “largely ineffective boycott.”
Albanese said he would not make any concessions to China to build a more stable relationship, but before announcing the visit the Albanese government said it would not cancel the Chinese company’s 99-year lease of the port of Darwin. America has expressed concern that any foreigner’s control over the port poses a risk of military forces spying.
AP Gola Simmi
Simmi
