Chinese premier promises more pandas and urges Australia to put aside differences
Li Qiang's visit to Australia on Sunday focused on positive aspects of the bilateral relationship including shared giant pandas and a rebounding wine trade after he urged both countries to put aside their differences. China's most powerful leader after President Xi Jinping arrived late Saturday in Adelaide, the capital of South Australia state, which has produced most of the Australian wine entering China since crippling tariffs were lifted in March that had effectively ended a 1.2 billion Australian dollar (USD 790 million) a year trade since 2020.
Li visited Adelaide Zoo, which has been home to China-born giant pandas Wang Wang and Fu Ni since 2009, before he was to have lunch at a restaurant at an Adelaide winery.
He announced that the zoo would be loaned another two pandas after the pair are due to return to China in November, China's Xinhua News Agency reported. The pair are the only pandas in the Southern Hemisphere and failed to produce offspring in Australia.
Li's visit is the first to Australia by a Chinese premier in seven years and marks an improvement in relations since Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's center-left Labor Party was elected in 2022.
Li noted that Albanese in November was the first Australian prime minister to visit China since 2016.
«China-Australia relations were back on track after a period of twists and turns, generating tangible benefits to the people of both countries,» Li said, according to a translation released by the
