Premier Li Qiang: China to build more stable strategic partnership with Australia

Chinese Premier Li Qiang on Monday voiced China's readiness to maintain strategic communication with Australia, expand mutually beneficial cooperation and keep working together to build a more mature, stable and productive China-Australia comprehensive strategic partnership.

This will deliver more benefits to the two peoples and make greater contributions to peace, stability and development in the region and the world, he said during talks with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on the sidelines of the leaders' meetings on East Asian cooperation held in Malaysia.

In July, Chinese President Xi Jinping met with Albanese and mapped out new plans for deepening China-Australia relations, Li said, adding that over the past months, bilateral ties have continued to show a positive trend, with steady progress in exchanges and cooperation across various fields.

China is willing to strengthen the alignment of development strategies and policy coordination with Australia, Li said, expressing China's readiness to leverage the role of institutional dialogues, including the China-Australia Strategic Economic Dialogue and the joint economic commission, and to actively explore ways to advance the review and upgrading of the bilateral free trade agreement.

These efforts, he said, will further deepen practical economic and trade cooperation and tap into the potential for cooperation in such fields as green economy, high-tech industries and the digital sector.

China will continue to support more competent Chinese enterprises in investing in Australia, Li said, voicing hope that Australia will provide an open, transparent and non-discriminatory environment for their investments and operations.

The Chinese premier called on both sides to advance exchanges and cooperation in youth, education, tourism and other sectors, and work together to nurture the friendly sentiments between the two peoples.

As the current global governance deficit is widening, Li emphasized, China is willing to strengthen coordination with Australia in multilateral mechanisms such as the United Nations and the World Trade Organization to push for the continuous improvement of global governance.

For his part, Albanese noted that at present, Australia-China relations are developing soundly with practical cooperation in various fields progressing smoothly, adding that his country is committed to promoting the mature and stable development of bilateral relations.

Australia, he said, stands ready to enhance high-level exchanges and dialogues at all levels with China, deepen mutual understanding, properly manage differences, and expand cooperation in the areas of trade, green economy, minerals, climate change, culture and people-to-people exchanges, among others.

Australia supports China hosting the 2026 APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting, and is willing to maintain communication and collaboration with China to safeguard the free trade system and promote regional stability and prosperity, Albanese added.