China will work to promote strategic partnership with Australia, says Xi Jinping

BEIJING/SYDNEY – China's President Xi Jinping said in a message to his Australian counterpart that he will work to promote a comprehensive strategic partnership, Chinese state media reported on Wednesday (Dec 21), only hours before a meeting between the countries foreign ministers in Beijing.

"I attach great importance to the development of China-Australia relations and am willing to work with the Australian side," Xi said in the telegram to Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, CCTV reported.

Albanese on Wednesday said it was important to create better relations with major trading partner China and thanked Xi for a telegram commemorating the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the two countries.

"It is important that we deliver better relations with our major trading partner in the future," Albanese told a news conference in Sydney.

The rapproachment between Beijing and China ends years of frozen relations. Wong's visit is the first by an Australian minister since 2019 and the first formal talks in Beijing since 2018.

Diplomatic ties between Australia and its major trading partner China deteriorated in recent years, with Beijing imposing sanctions on Australian exports after Canberra called for an international inquiry into the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Beijing was also angered by the previous Liberal government in Canberra effectively banning Chinese telecommunications firm Huawei from Australia's 5G network.

A meeting between Albanese and Xi on the sidelines of the G20 in Bali last month signalled a thaw in ties, although China's trade sanctions remain in place.

Wong will meet Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and hold the sixth Australia-China Foreign and Strategic Dialogue, coinciding with the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries on Wednesday.

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