Chinese premier lands in Australia on first such visit in 7 years
Chinese Premier Li Qiang has arrived in Australia on a relations-mending mission
MELBOURNE, Australia — Chinese Premier Li Qiang arrived in Australia on Saturday on a relations-mending mission with panda diplomacy, rock lobsters and China’s global dominance in the critical minerals sector high on the agenda.
His visit is the first by a Chinese premier in seven years and is expected to pave the way for President Xi Jinping’s first journey to Australia since 2014.
Bilateral relations collapsed during Australia’s previous conservative administration’s almost decade in power, with Beijing imposing a series of official and unofficial trade barriers in 2020 on Australian products which cost exporters billions of dollars.
This is the second stop of Li's tour after New Zealand, and will end in Malaysia.
Before leaving New Zealand, the premier told an audience in the city of Auckland on Saturday that his country was committed to creating a first-class business environment and supporting foreign enterprises to develop in China, according to Chinese state media.
Li said there was vast potential for China and New Zealand to collaborate in areas such as green development and that Beijing welcomed New Zealand enterprises, such as dairy company Fonterra, that seized such opportunities, the Xinhua News Agency reported.
During the Australian leg of his travels which ends on Tuesday, China’s most powerful politician after Xi, is expected to visit Adelaide Zoo in the South Australia state capital where his Air China flight landed from Auckland.
Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong and South Australia Premier Peter Malinauskas greeted Li on the Adelaide Airport tarmac.
Li will also visit a Chinese-controlled lithium processing plant
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