Anthony Albanese has declared that his landmark visit to Beijing was about “taking forward” Australia’s relationship with China, and he was committed to navigating differences “wisely and with great respect”.
Australia’s prime minister met Xi Jinping on Monday evening, his first meeting with the president on Chinese soil. Albanese told the president, and Zhao Leji, the chair of the National People’s Congress standing committee, that the five decades-long diplomatic relationship had brought benefits for both countries.
In his opening remarks, Xi told Albanese the relationship had now “embarked on the right path of improvement” he was “heartened” to see that a “healthy and stable China relationship” would serve the common interests of both nations.
China’s president said the normalisation of the diplomatic relationship reflected a “joint effort on both sides” to “work out some problems”.
“It is important we keep moving forward the strategic partnership between our two countries,” Xi told his guest.
Albanese told his host his aim was to have a relationship with Xi that enabled clear communication. “Where differences arise it is important that we have communication,” the prime minister said. “From communication comes understanding.”
“Trade is flowing more freely to the benefit of both countries ... and the tempo of bilateral visits is increasing,” Albanese said.
“I believe that we can all benefit from the greater understanding that comes from high-level dialogue and people links.”
Albanese was received warmly by his host at the seat of Chinese power – the Great Hall of the People in Beijing – after years of intense difficulty in the bilateral relationship, which spiralled into a trade war after the former prime minister Scott Morrison called for an inquiry into the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Albanese told journalists after the hour-long meeting that he had raised the plight of Australian writer and democracy activist Dr Yang Hengjun, who has been detained in China for four years. He confirmed Xi had raised China’s ambition to join a key regional trade pact, the CPTPP.
The prime minister also signalled the two countries were poised to resume an annual leader-level dialogue that has been suspended for a number of years. Albanese has also invited the president to visit Australia.
Before the pair’s meeting, Albanese stopped short of saying he trusted the Chinese president when asked the question by reporters.
During his recent state visit to Washington, the US president, Joe Biden, advised Australia’s prime minister to trust China “but verify” during this attempted rapprochement. This was in reference to a saying Ronald Reagan used in relation to America’s dealings with the Soviet Union on nuclear disarmament.
Instead of using the word trust, Albanese said he and Xi were building a rapport. Albanese noted the two countries had different political systems but he said his interactions with the president suggested he was a man of his word.
“He has never said anything to me that has not been done,” Albanese said on Monday. “And that’s a positive way that you have to start off dealing with people.
“We recognise that we come from different political systems, very different values arising from that and very different histories, but we deal with each other on face value.
“My job is to represent Australia’s national interests and he is the leader of a different nation with different interests.”
Albanese said his mantra was to “cooperate with China where we can, disagree where we must, and engage in our national interest”.
“I think there are promising signs,” Albanese said. “We have already seen a number of the impediments to trade between our two nations removed and an uplift already, a substantial uplift, in the trade between our two nations.”
Albanese said de-escalating the trade war with China meant more Australian jobs.
Asked what he would say to Australian mortgage holders ahead of another potential interest rate rise on Tuesday, Albanese said normalising the trade relationship had a positive impact on the economy and on inflation.
Albanese began his China visit in the country’s commercial capital, Shanghai, attending the country’s largest international trade expo on Saturday before arriving in Beijing on Sunday evening.
The prime minister started his day in Beijing with a tour of the Temple of Heaven – a site Gough Whitlam visited in 1973 when the former Labor prime minister visited the country to open diplomatic relations. Albanese was accompanied by the minister for foreign affairs, Penny Wong, who met China’s foreign minister on Monday afternoon in the capital while Albanese met Zhao ahead of his Xi talks.
Monday’s meeting with the president is Albanese’s second meeting with Xi. After efforts were made by Australia and China to reset the bilateral relationship after the federal election in 2022, the two met for the first time in the margins of the G20 summit in Bali in 2022.
