China Australia Photo: CFP

 

China welcomes Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to visit China and attend the 6th China International Import Expo (CIIE) at the invitation of Chinese Premier Li Qiang, China's Foreign Ministry said on Monday. A sound and stable bilateral relationship serves fundamental interests of the two countries and their people, and it is conducive to regional and world peace and stability, it noted.

Observers said the visit, adding to a flurry of consensuses and business exchanges between the two sides in recent days, marks another positive step toward repairing China-Australia relations, which have shown signs of thawing and improving since the beginning of this year. It also underscores Australia's desire to expand business ties with the world's second-largest consumer market and boost exports of products such as wine to cope with rising economic uncertainties and global headwinds.  

But moves to warm up bilateral economic ties are only the first step, and observers cautioned that Canberra needs to make more concrete efforts and show more sincerity to bring bilateral relations back to the right track. It is also of vital importance for Australia to be diplomatically independent from the US, and not to continue with what some describe as a "semi-decoupling" attempt with China, analysts noted.

Albanese will visit China from November 4 to 7, and the trip will make him the first Australian prime minister to visit China in seven years. 

In response to Albanese's upcoming visit, Mao Ning, a spokesperson for the Foreign Ministry, said at a regular press briefing on Monday that China is willing to work with Australia to strengthen high-level exchanges, enhance cooperation in various fields, promote the sustained development and improvement of bilateral relations, and bring more benefits to people in both countries.

The visit comes amid multiple positive signs in the economic sphere. China's Ministry of Commerce said in a statement published on Sunday that China and Australia have conducted friendly consultations under the WTO framework governing disputes such as wine and wind towers that are of mutual concern, and they reached a consensus on properly resolving them. 

The progress has been widely welcomed by the Australian business community. Australian premium wine company Treasury Wine Estates said in a statement sent to the Global Times on Monday that it welcomes the announcement and "is well-placed to rebuild its business in China."

"The Albanese government has realized that  Australia is highly dependent on the Chinese market. As economies between the two countries are highly complementary, it is likely that bilateral trade will grow in the future," Yu Lei, chief research fellow at the Research Center for Pacific Island Countries of Liaocheng University, told the Global Times on Monday. 

Yu described Australia's current strategy toward China as "semi-decoupling," in which Canberra looks to establish closer ties with the Chinese market but at the same time maintains substantial barriers to Chinese investment in Australia. 

Therefore, a further "resumption" of bilateral relations depends on the joint efforts of both sides, especially Australia, which should rectify its Chinese strategy from a long-term perspective, observers said. 

In the first nine months, China-Australia trade relations saw a continuous positive trend, with 10.2 percent year-on-year growth, customs data showed. While traditional goods like coal and iron ore have been the driving force for such growth, newly resumed trade in products, such as barley, wood and cotton, are injecting new impetus into trade growth.