With the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries just weeks away, China and Australia on Tuesday saw a major boost of their ties as the leaders of the two countries held their first meeting in years.

On the sidelines of the G20 Summit on the Indonesian island of Bali, Chinese President Xi Jinping told Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese that the two countries should improve, maintain and develop their relationship.

Noting the difficulties that China does not want to see in bilateral ties over the past several years, Xi said an improved relationship between China and Australia is not only in the fundamental interests of the two peoples, but also conducive to promoting peace and development in the Asia-Pacific region and the world at large.

He called on both countries to transcend differences, respect each other and achieve mutual benefit and win-win outcome, which he says is the key to achieving stable growth of ties.

There has never been any fundamental conflict of interest between China and Australia, only a traditional friendship between the two peoples and highly complementary economic structures as well as a common aspiration to uphold the purpose and principles of the UN Charter, Xi said.

China values the willingness demonstrated recently by the Australian side to improve and develop relations between the two countries, he said, urging more efforts to explore ways to put the relationship back on the right track and move forward in a sustainable manner.

Albanese said Australia stands ready to work together with China to narrow their differences through constructive and candid dialogue and communication to promote the stable development of bilateral relations.

The Australia-China comprehensive strategic partnership is in the interests of the two sides, he added.

Wider cooperation

As two major countries in the Asia-Pacific region, China and Australia have seen close economic and trade ties. China has been Australia's largest trading partner since 2009. The trade volume surged from less than $100 million in 1972 to over $207 billion in 2021, accounting for 34.2 percent of Australia's total import and export in the year.

During Tuesday's meeting, Xi said there is huge potential for economic and trade cooperation between the two countries, and voiced the hope that Australia will provide a favorable business environment for Chinese investment.

Albanese echoed the appeal, vowing the country will conduct closer cooperation on trade as well as climate change.

China and Australia also see extensive people-to-people exchanges. More than 100 pairs of sister provinces/states and cities between the two countries have been established. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, there were nearly 200 flights between the two countries every week, carrying nearly 2 million passengers visiting each other annually.