After six-year wait, Albo aiming to mend fences with Chinese leader
China and Australia appear ready to mend their fractured relationship as the leaders of the two nations prepare for a highly anticipated meeting.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Bali on Tuesday afternoon.
Itās the first time since 2016 an Australian and Chinese leader have had a one-on-one meeting.
While Albanese would not reveal what he plans to discuss with the president, he considered it a success that a meeting was taking place.
āFor six years we have not had any dialogue and it is not in Australiaās interest to not have dialogue with our major trading partners,ā he told reporters in Bali.
āWe will have a constructive dialogue. I will put Australiaās position on a range of issues, and of course, Australiaās positions on most of those is very well known.ā
Chinaās trade sanctions on Australian products, security muscle-flexing and relationship with Russia provide a backdrop for the significant meeting.
The head of Australiaās peak business group, in Bali for the B20 meeting of industry representatives, described it as a ātremendous resetā with China.
āWeāve obviously had a set of difficulties in the relationship, but you canāt fix those if you donāt have a dialogue,ā Business Council of Australia chief Jennifer Westacott said.
āThis creates an opportunity for businesses to come in behind that reset the prime minister has done and start building those ā¦ relationships.ā
The prime ministerās meeting comes after Xi met United States President Joe Biden on Monday afternoon.
Xi said he hoped they would āchart the right course for the China-US relationshipā and that he was prepared for a ācandid and in-depth exchange of viewsā with Mr Biden.
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Albanese has also confirmed bilateral talks with the new UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, French President Emmanuel Macron and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Leaders from the worldās strongest economies have descended on the Indonesian island of Bali for the G20 summit.
They aim to tackle the challenges faced across the world including inflation, climate change and the long-term effects of the pandemic.
-with Associated Press
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