Chinese Premier Li Qiang said on Thursday China is ready to work with Australia to restart and resume bilateral exchanges in various fields.

He made the remarks when meeting with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on the sidelines of the leaders' meetings on East Asia cooperation held in Jakarta, namely the 26th China-ASEAN Summit, the 26th ASEAN Plus Three Summit and the 18th East Asia Summit. It was also their first meeting.

China-Australia relations, he noted, have maintained a positive momentum of improvement thanks to the concerted efforts of both sides over the past year.

Li also said that a sound and stable China-Australia relationship serves the fundamental interests and common aspirations of the two peoples. 

China is ready to continue to promote institutional dialogue and consultation in such fields as diplomacy, economy and trade, education and consular affairs to provide solid support for the improvement and development of bilateral relations, said Li. 

Seeking common development through sharing opportunities, China will continue to advance high-level opening-up, providing a bigger market for Australia and other countries in the world, Li said, hoping that the Australian side will adopt an objective and fair attitude towards Chinese enterprises' investment and operation in Australia. 

He called on the two sides to properly handle divergences in the spirit of mutual respect, seeking common ground while shelving differences, as well as mutual benefit and win-win results, so as to promote the further improvement and development of bilateral relations.

The Asia-Pacific region is the shared home for China and Australia, and the Chinese side is willing to work with Australia to jointly safeguard peace and stability in the region, he added. 

For his part, Albanese said Australia-China relations are very important. He also said that the Australian side is encouraged by the progress of bilateral relations.  

Australia is willing to advance dialogue and exchanges with China in the spirit of mutual respect, deepen cooperation in such fields as economy and trade, expand people-to-people and cultural exchanges, and properly manage differences so as to build a stable and constructive relationship between the two countries to benefit the two peoples, he said.

Australia is willing to strengthen coordination and cooperation with China in international affairs and jointly cope with climate change and other global challenges, said Albanese. 

China stands ready to welcome Albanese

As media reported that the Australian prime minister voiced willingness to visit China later this year, Chinese Foreign Ministry Thursday responded that China welcomes Albanese to visit China at the invitation of Premier Li and stands ready to work with Australia to make sound preparations for the visit.

Spokesperson Mao Ning stressed that China always believes that a sound and stable China-Australia relationship is in the fundamental interests of the peoples of both countries, and conducive to peace, stability and prosperity of the Asia-Pacific and the wider world.

"We intend to work with Australia to deliver on the common understandings between the leaders of the two countries, uphold the spirit of mutual respect and mutual benefit, properly handle differences, and continue to improve and grow our comprehensive strategic partnership," she added.

Meanwhile, the seventh Meeting of the China-Australia High-level Dialogue was held on Thursday in Beijing, the first time since 2020.

The meeting provides a platform for senior representatives from industry, government, academia, media and the arts to exchange perspectives across the breadth of bilateral relationship.

Chinese Ministry of Commerce Thursday also announced that the trade between China and Australia reached $134.5 billion from January to July this year, growing by 5.4 percent year on year.

(With input from Xinhua)