G20 Leaders’ Summit to Conclude

The G20 Leaders’ Summit held in Bali, Indonesia will conclude today.

The summit saw key bilateral meetings such as that between US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping. Alongside meeting Biden, President Xi also met Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese for the first time since Albanese’s election as prime minister earlier this year. Bilateral relations between China and Australia have worsened significantly since the last bilateral leaders meeting between the two countries in 2019. Chinese trade sanctions against Australia as retaliation for demands for an inquiry into the origins of COVID-19 as well as intensified competition for influence in the Pacific region have brought the relationship to a new low.

Albanese is likely to push for a restoration of bilateral ministerial dialogue suspended in 2020, however an improvement in relations in the short to medium-term is unlikely. Ultimately, competition between the two nations is likely to intensify given tensions over the status of Taiwan and China’s rivalry with the United States— a key Australian ally. Should Xi and Albanese agree to restore ministerial dialogue, the probability of a significant escalation could decrease due to increased dialogue.