Monitoring Desk
CANBERRA: Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Tuesday noted that good economic and trade ties with China are in his country’s national interest.
Addressing a joint news conference with his counterpart from New Zealand, Chris Hipkins, in Canberra, he called the Monday meeting between the trade ministers of both countries “very productive.”
“Our position on China is clear, that we’ll cooperate where we can, we’ll disagree where we must, and we’ll engage in our national interest,” Albanese said.
“China is a crucial trading partner for Australia,” he said, according to a transcript published on the prime minister’s official website.
Economic, trade relations between China and Australia
He added that good economic ties between Canberra and Beijing are in the interest of both countries, and his country wants to have good economic relations and trade with China.
China’s Commerce Minister Wang Wentao and Australian Commerce Minister Don Farrell held a video meeting. During the online meeting, Wang invited Farrell to visit Beijing.
It was the very first meeting between the two leaders since 2019, as the relations between the two countries had spiraled down due to demand by Australia for an investigation into the origins of COVID-19.
However, the ties have apparently stabilized since high-level meetings between PM Albanese and President Xi Jinping in Indonesia last November, followed by the respective foreign ministers in Beijing.
