Chinese Premier concludes Australia visit

Chinese Premier Li Qiang will conclude a four-day trip to Australia today.

During his trip, Li met with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, and visited Western Australia, which is home to strategically important iron ore mines.

Li is the highest-ranking Chinese official to visit Australia in seven years, due to frosty relations with previous conservative Australian governments and mutual trade sanctions.

However, since Albanese was elected in 2022, relations have been gradually thawing and Beijing has already lifted most import restrictions.

Bilateral relations will likely continue down this path, with open diplomatic and economic relations resuming for the foreseeable future. Beijing needs certain Australian exports, such as iron ore and lithium, while China remains a crucial trade partner to Canberra. Nonetheless, bilateral relations are likely to remain cautious and trade-centric. Australia will likely continue to foster its Western-oriented security cooperations, including AUKUS, and Australians will continue to see Beijing’s intentions with suspicion.