By Kirsty Needham
SYDNEY (Reuters) – Chinese Premier Li Qiang arrived in Australia on Saturday and said relations were “back on track”, beginning the first visit by a Chinese premier to the top trading partner in seven years.
Australia is “uniquely positioned to connect West and East” and stands as “an important force of economic globalization and global multipolarity,” Li said at Adelaide airport, according to a statement from the Chinese embassy.
Bilateral relations “have returned to normal after a period of ups and downs,” Li said.
Australia is the largest supplier of iron ore to China, which has been an investor in Australian mining projects, although Australia has blocked some recent Chinese investments in critical minerals on national interest grounds.
China imposed trade restrictions on a range of Australian agricultural and mineral products in 2020 during a diplomatic row that has now largely eased.
During his four-day visit, Li will also visit the capital Canberra and the mining state of Western Australia.
“A more mature, stable and fruitful comprehensive strategic partnership will be a treasure shared by the people of both countries,” Li said.
He is expected to visit a pair of pandas on loan from China at Adelaide Zoo on Sunday. A lunch with wine exporters until recently excluded from the Chinese market will show that trade ties have softened after the dispute that suspended A$20 billion ($13 billion) in Australian agricultural and mineral exports over the past year.
Li arrived from New Zealand, where he highlighted Chinese demand for New Zealand agricultural products.
China is Australia and New Zealand's largest trading partner. Canberra and Wellington are seeking to balance trade with regional security concerns over China's ambitions in the Pacific islands.
In New Zealand, Li visited major dairy exporter Fonterra on Saturday after signing agreements with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon on trade and climate change, where human rights and foreign interference were also on the agenda.
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