Melbourne, Australia — Chinese Premier Li Qiang will visit Australia later this week, officials said on Tuesday, in a further indication that tense bilateral relations are improving.
Li’s visit will run from Saturday to Tuesday and will be the first by a Chinese prime minister to Australia since 2017, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said.
Albanese and Li will hold an annual leaders’ meeting at Parliament House in Canberra, the Australian capital, during the visit, according to a statement from the Australian government.
Li, the second most powerful official in China’s leadership, will also visit the Australian cities of Adelaide and Perth.
Li’s visit continues Albanese’s visit to Beijing in November last year, where the leaders agreed to resume key bilateral dialogues and promote several areas of cooperation.
China imposed a series of official and unofficial trade barriers that cost Australian exporters up to A$20 billion ($13 billion) a year after Australia’s previous government demanded an international inquiry into the causes of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Most of those barriers have been removed since the Albanese government was elected in 2022.
“Premier Li Qiang’s visit to Australia is an important opportunity to directly address key issues for our two nations,” Albanese said in a statement.
“Australia continues to seek a stable and direct relationship with China, with dialogue at the center,” Albanese added.
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