Premier Li Qiang will be the most senior Chinese leader to visit Australia in seven years when he touches down on Saturday, a diplomatic milestone that may be overshadowed by renewed frictions over investment and military deployments.
Li will travel to Adelaide, Canberra and Perth in a four-day tour, the Australian government said in a statement on Tuesday. He will be the first senior Chinese leader to visit Australia since his predecessor, Li Keqiang, last toured in March 2017.
"Welcoming the Chinese Premier to our shores is an opportunity for Australia to advance our interests by demonstrating our national values, our people’s qualities and our economy’s strengths,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said in a statement.
The trip by China’s No. 2 official after leader Xi Jinping will be welcomed as the latest sign of warming diplomatic ties between Beijing and Canberra. A steady improvement has been in train since the election of a center-left Labor government in May 2022.
Over the past 12 months, China has lifted trade curbs on Australian imports including wine, barley, beef and timber. These were imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic following calls by then-Prime Minister Scott Morrison for an independent investigation into the origins of the virus.
Two Australian beef meatworks still face restrictions on exports to China, as do lobsters.
However, Li’s trip comes at a time when the outlook for the diplomatic warming appears increasingly clouded. Beijing has been pushing for even closer ties with Canberra, while Albanese’s government has only emphasized the need for "stabilization.”
One major sticking point is investment by Chinese firms into Australia’s critical minerals sector. Beijing has been pushing for greater access to the vital industry but with little success. Earlier this month, Treasurer Jim Chalmers ordered a China-linked investor to divest its stake in a rare earths miner.
Multiple confrontations between the two countries’ militaries have also heightened tensions between Canberra and Beijing. A recent public opinion poll found Australians’ attitudes toward the Chinese government had barely improved since the end of the pandemic.
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