CANBERRA, Jun. 17 (Reuters) - Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Chinese Premier Li Qiang met on Monday in the first visit to the country by a Chinese premier in seven years, with trade ties, regional security and a jailed Australian writer on the host's agenda.
The visit by Li, China's top-ranked official after President Xi Jinping, marks a stabilisation in relations between the U.S. security ally and the world's second-biggest economy, after a frosty period of Beijing blocking $20 billion in Australian exports and friction over defence encounters.
"We welcome the continued stabilisation and development of our bilateral relations. This dialogue has allowed us to build a deeper awareness of our respective interests," Albanese said in opening remarks.
Australia and China had complementary economies and shared interests in addressing climate change, he said.
"We also have our differences… that's why candid dialogue is so important. For Australia, we consistently advocate the importance of a region and world that is peaceful, stable and prosperous, where countries respect sovereignty and abide by international laws," he said.
After the meeting, Li told reporters the leaders held a "candid, in-depth and fruitful meeting and reached a lot of consensus".
"We both agreed to uphold the right characterisation of our bilateral relationship and consolidate its momentum...and handling this relationship in a positive attitude," he said.
The two countries would expand cooperation in energy and mining, and China would include Australia in its visa waiver programme, he added.
"We both stressed the importance of maintaining communication and coordination to jointly safeguard peace and prosperity in the region and beyond," he said.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong said earlier in a radio interview that Australia and the United States worked through the QUAD partnership with Japan and India, and the AUKUS defence agreement with Britain, to "ensure we have a safer and more stable region", she said.
China has criticised the QUAD and AUKUS as efforts to contain it.
Protesters and supporters gathered on Monday morning on the lawn outside parliament house in Canberra, where there was a heavy police presence, as a ceremonial welcome was held for Li.
Barricades separated Tibetan, Uyghur, Hong Kong and Falun Gong protesters from a large contingent of pro-China supporters.
Tibetan Tenzin Wougyal, 37, a Canberra resident, said he came to show Tibet's culture, religion and language are at risk.
"Australia should be cautious about what it is doing — don't sacrifice human rights for short term economic business," he said.
Tan Zhu, 50, said he travelled from Sydney to welcome Li, and was also at Canberra airport when he arrived.
"The relationship with Australia has become much better. That's very positive," he said.
Beginning with some panda and wine diplomacy on Sunday, Li is on a four-day visit which the Chinese leader said showed bilateral relations were "back on track".
Without China - which receives one-third of Australia's exports and supplies one-fourth of Australia's imports - Australians would pay 4.2% more for consumer items, the Australia China Business Council said on Monday.
Trade between Australia and China reached A$327 billion ($215.95 billion) last year as Beijing's trade blocks eased.
Australia is the biggest supplier of iron ore to China and China has been an investor in Australian mining projects.
Photo from Reuters
