Australia-China Leaders Have First In-Person Meeting Since 2019

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese met with China Premier Li Keqiang on the sidelines of the ASEAN summit on Saturday. It was the first in-person meeting between two leaders from Australia and China since 2019.

• The meeting was informal and lasted only four minutes but was reportedly positive and may be seen as somewhat of an ice-breaker in terms of tensions between the countries.
• Relations have deteriorated in recent years, particularly under the previous Australian government's term and during the Covid pandemic.
• Premier Li stated that China would use the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries 'to promote sustained, sound and steady growth of China-Australia relations' according to Xinhua news agency.
• Hopes will be that this meeting paves the way for a meeting between the Australian Prime Minister and China President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of this week's G20 summit in Bali. However, nothing has been confirmed at this stage.