CHINA: Premier Li To Visit NZ, Aus & Malaysia 13-20 June

(MNI) London - The Chinese Foreign Ministry has confirmed that Premier Li Qiang will visit New Zealand, Australia and Malaysia from 13-20 June. This will be the highest-level Chinese delegation to visit either Australia or New Zealand since 2017. Australian PM Anthony Albanese said Li's visit, running from 15-18 June, was "another important step in stabilising our relationship with China...Australia continues to pursue a stable and direct relationship with China, with dialogue at its core." 

• New Zealand's PM Christopher Luxon said that "New Zealand and China engage where we have shared interests, and we speak frankly and constructively with each other where we have differences...Our relationship is significant, complex and resilient.”
• While China-Australia relations have thawed somewhat since PM Albanese and his centre-left Labor Party came to power in Canberra in 2022, relations between Beijing and Wellington have somewhat cooled under the centre-right coalition led by Luxon's National Party. As the Straits Times notes, New Zealand "has pivoted towards closer ties with Australia and the United States. It has also been mulling its involvement in the landmark Aukus security pact between Washington, Canberra and London – a move that would greatly irritate China."