After a dispute: Chinese President Xi goes to the Australian LNG market: arrived in the Wild West

Against the backdrop of tense relations, Chinese President Xi Jinping has approached Australia.

“I attach great importance to the development of Sino-Australian relations and I am ready to cooperate with Australia,” Xi Jinping said in a message on Wednesday, according to China’s state news agency Xinhua, marking the 50th anniversary of its establishment. diplomatic relations between the two countries.

The healthy and stable development of relations is in the fundamental interest of both countries, the Chinese head of state continued. Also on Wednesday, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong arrived in Beijing to meet with her Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi. It was the first high-level visit from Australia since the start of the corona pandemic.

Tensions between the two states began when Australia called in April 2020 for an international inquiry into the origins of the coronavirus and Beijing’s handling of the outbreak. Since then, China has imposed several punitive tariffs on Australian exports. Australia has withdrawn from some projects of China’s “New Silk Road” initiative.

The relationship between the two countries is also tense because of Australia’s security cooperation with the US. Australian journalist Cheng Lei, who worked for Chinese state television, has also been in Chinese custody for more than two years for alleged espionage.

In mid-November, Xi Jinping and Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese met on the sidelines of the Group of Great Economic Nations (G20) summit in Bali, Indonesia, for the first China-Australia summit in six years. (aeg/sda/dpa)