Written by Kirsty Needham
SYDNEY (Reuters) – Chinese Premier Li Qiang arrived in Australia on Saturday, saying relations were “back on track” at the start of the first visit by a Chinese premier to the major trading partner in seven years.
Australia is “uniquely positioned to connect West and East” and stands “as an important force for economic globalization and global multipolarity,” Li said at Adelaide Airport, according to a statement from the Chinese Embassy.
Li said that bilateral relations “are back on track after a period of fluctuations and transformations.”
Australia is the largest supplier of iron ore to China, which has been an investor in Australian mining projects, although Australia has blocked some recent Chinese investments in critical minerals on grounds of national interest.
China imposed trade restrictions on a range of Australian agricultural and mineral products in 2020 during a diplomatic dispute that has now largely abated.
During his four-day visit, Li will also visit the capital, Canberra, and the mining state of Western Australia.
“A more mature, stable and fruitful comprehensive strategic partnership will be a shared treasure between the peoples of the two countries,” Li said.
He is expected to visit a pair of pandas on loan from China to Adelaide Zoo on Sunday. A lunch with wine exporters who were until recently locked out of the Chinese market will show that trade relations have smoothed after the dispute that led to the suspension of A$20 billion ($13 billion) in Australian agricultural and mineral exports over the past year.
Li arrived from New Zealand, where he highlighted Chinese demand for New Zealand agricultural products.
China is the largest trading partner of Australia and New Zealand. Canberra and Wellington are seeking to balance trade with regional security concerns over China's ambitions in the Pacific islands.
In New Zealand, Lee visited Fonterra, a major dairy exporter, on Saturday after signing agreements with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon on trade and climate change, with human rights and foreign interference also on the agenda.