Global Impact: China, Australia ‘embark on the right path’ after Anthony Albanese meets Xi Jinping in Beijing

Global Impact is a weekly curated newsletter featuring a news topic originating in China with a significant macro impact for our newsreaders around the world

In this issue, we look back at the long-awaited visit to China by Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and what it means for future relations between Canberra and Beijing

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Published: 2:00pm, 13 Nov 2023Updated: 9:48am, 17 Nov 2023

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Behind the symbolic meeting between Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and President Xi Jinping in Beijing on Monday, Australia has been arduously performing a balancing act between geopolitics and the economy.

Albanese is the first Australian prime minister to visit Beijing in seven years, which reflects a stabilisation in the relationship between the two countries that had soured in 2020 when the previous administration called for an international probe into the origin of Covid-19.

Xi said bilateral ties had “embarked on the right path of improvement and development”, adding that exchanges had resumed and some problems had been worked out, according to state broadcaster CCTV.

Both sides welcome the restoration of high-level dialogues

Joint statement

Albanese also talked to reporters after meeting with Xi, saying: “Both of us certainly agreed that we shouldn’t be defined by our differences, recognise that they are there, but also recognise the mutual benefit that we have.”

After Albanese met with Premier Li Qiang on Tuesday, a joint statement was issued and said: “Both sides welcome the restoration of high-level dialogues.”