Australian PM Will Visit China

JAKARTA - Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will make an official visit to China on November 4-7, 2023 to map the road for bilateral relations between the two countries in the future, as well as attend the sixth China International Import Expo (CIIE).

"At the invitation of Prime Minister Li Qiang, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will make an official visit to China on November 4-7," said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin when delivering a statement to the media in Beijing, China, as reported by ANTARA, Friday, November 3.

The visit, according to Wang Wenbin, will be PM Albanese's first visit to China after taking office and also the Australian PM's first visit to China after 2016.

"This visit coincides with the 50th anniversary of former Australian PM Gough Whitlam's visit to China, and is a tremendously important thing because it gives both sides the opportunity to review and map the way of bilateral relations going forward," added Wang Wenbin.

Chinese government officials will meet and hold talks with PM Albanese on bilateral relations and international and regional issues that are of common interest.

"China and Australia are comprehensive strategic partners who have a common interest and broad cooperation prospects. Healthy and stable bilateral relations can meet the interests of both the two countries and the community as well as benefit regional and global peace and stability," said Wang Wenbin.

China, according to Wang Wenbin, also hopes to cooperate with Australia in a spirit of mutual respect, seek common ground and set aside differences to strengthen communication, increase mutual trust and keep bilateral relations on track.

PM Albanese is also planned to participate in the opening of the 6th Chinese International Import Exhibition (CIIE) which will take place at the National Exhibition and Convention Center, Shanghai on 5-10 November 2023.

In addition to PM Albanese, at the opening ceremony, Prime Minister Li Qiang, Cuban Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz, Kazakh PM Alikhan Smailov and Serbian Prime Minister AnaBRacic will also attend.

In the previous five CIIE events, it was recorded that the number of visitors reached more than 2 million people, 131 countries and international organizations participated in state special exhibitions and more than 15,000 companies participated in business exhibitions, more than 2,000 new products were displayed and business deals reached nearly 350 billion US dollars.

"CIIE is a window of China's economic spirit. This exhibition helps improve the world economy and provides an important 'platform' for foreign companies to take advantage of China's huge market potential," added Wang Wenbin.

This year's CIIE is expected to attract visitors from 154 countries, regions and international organizations as well as more than 3,400 exhibitors registered and nearly 410.000 registered visitors, including more than 70 countries and international organizations on five continents having confirmed their participation in state-specific exhibitions.