TRANSCRIPT:
The momentous meeting has been 18 months in the making.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has become the first Australian prime minister in seven years to set foot in the country, meeting with the Chinese president in the Great Hall of the People for more than an hour in Beijing.
He's declared the high-level talks with Xi Jinping to "very successful", while his visit has been hailed by the Chinese president as ushering in a new era in relations.
In his opening remarks, Xi praised the prime minister for working to stabilise and improve relations.
"With joint efforts of both sides, we've been resuming our exchanges in various views and worked out some problems. Now, the China-Australia relationship has embarked on the right path of improvement and development. I'm heartened to see that. A healthy and stable China-Australia relationship serves the common interests of our two countries and two peoples. It also meets the common expectation of countries in our region. It is important that we keep moving forward the comprehensive strategic partnership between our two countries.”
The Chinese leader says Beijing and Canberra had "worked out some problems," referencing points of contention including human rights, escalation of threats against Taiwan and trade bans on Australian exports worth $20 billion at their height.
Mr Albanese says he put forward Australia's position in a principled way.
The Prime Minister says the Chinese leader had always acted on his word - but has stopped short of saying he trusted him.
"The engagement that I have had with China, with President Xi, have been positive. They have been constructive. He has never said anything to me that has not been done. And that’s a positive way that you have to start off dealing with people. But we recognise as well that we come with different political systems, very different values.”
At the height of tensions between the two nations in 2020, China imposed punitive trade sanctions on Australian exports worth $20 billion.
The sanctions now stand at only $2 billion.
He says he's hopeful of another breakthrough in that space.
“I think there are promising signs. We've already seen a number of the impediments to trade between our two nations removed and an uplift already, substantial uplift, in the trade between our two nations in issues like Barley already restarting.”
There has also been time to see some of the sights.
The Prime Minister toured the Temple of Heaven in Beijing marking the 50th anniversary of Gough Whitlam's visit, something Xi also made a reference to.
"This year marks the 50th anniversary of Mr. Whitlam's first visit to China as Australian prime minister. As a Chinese proverb goes, 'When drinking water, one should never forget those who dug the well.' The Chinese people would never forget Whitlam, the man who 'dug the well' for China-Australia relations. Now we have ushered in the new 50 years of China-Australia relations. Your current visit is building on past achievements and opening up new prospects."
Retracing the footsteps of the Labor prime minister, Mr Albanese turned down an offer to lean against the Echo Wall and recreate the iconic photo of Whitlam.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong joined Mr Albanese on his tour of the Chinese historical landmark, standing beside him at the Echo Wall and walking side-by-side with him through the temple.
But the Australian delegation was keen to keep their eyes on their ultimate objectives.
AUKUS has been a point of contention between Australia and China.
China strongly opposes AUKUS, a security alliance involving Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States, which China believe reflects a "Cold War mentality" and hegemonic practices aimed at containing it.
China also fears that AUKUS might undermine the global nuclear non-proliferation regime due to the technology transfer to Australia.
Mr Albanese has reaffirmed the government's commitment to the security pact, amid tensions in the Indo-Pacific between the US and China.
“Well we’re committed to AUKUS and we’re busy implementing it. And that's what I mean by dealing with people honestly, upfront. We have been upfront about our engagement. We think that AUKUS is in Australia's national interest. We also think that AUKUS is a vehicle to promote security, peace and stability in the region.”
But as tensions thaw and relations warm, the prime minister has invited Xi to visit Australia, which he has agreed to, and he in-turn invited Mr Albanese to return to China for another visit.
The prime minister will next meet with Chinese Premier Li Qiang at the Great Hall of the People, where he will receive a ceremonial welcome on the last day of his trip to China.
