By AFP 06 November 2023 | 7:46 am Chinese leader Xi Jinping will welcome Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to Beijing on Monday, a high-water mark in their nations’ ties following years of tensions that cut billions of dollars in trade. Beijing is Canberra’s biggest trading partner, but relations plummeted in 2020 after Australia’s then-conservative government barred Chinese tech giant Huawei from 5G… China’s Premier Li Qiang (L) and Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese shake hands during the opening ceremony of the 6th China International Import Expo (CIIE) in Shanghai on November 5, 2023. (Photo by Hector RETAMAL / AFP) Chinese leader Xi Jinping will welcome Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to Beijing on Monday, a high-water mark in their nations’ ties following years of tensions that cut billions of dollars in trade. Beijing is Canberra’s biggest trading partner, but relations plummeted in 2020 after Australia’s then-conservative government barred Chinese tech giant Huawei from 5G contracts and called for an inquest into the origins of Covid-19. A furious Beijing then slapped punitive tariffs on a slew of Australian commodities ranging from coal, to barley, to wine as the relationship descended into a deep freeze. But China has reversed course since Albanese took power in May last year, lifting most of its restrictions on Australian goods and saying it wants “healthy and stable” ties. Ahead of the talks in Beijing on Monday, Albanese — the first Australian leader to visit China in more than seven years — said he saw “promising signs” that relations were improving and predicted a “constructive discussion” with Xi. “We’ve already seen a number of the impediments to trade between our two nations removed,” he said. “China is our most important trading partner,” he added. “It represents more than 25 percent of our exports, and one in four of our jobs relies upon our trade. So it’s an important relationship.” But the Australian prime minister has previously acknowledged the need to remain “clear-eyed” about the differences between the two countries, and has aired his view that they are not strategically aligned. 2 mins ago Images of Muslim travellers in collective prayer at a French airport have caused controversy, with the government on Monday vowing ‘firmness’ and the airport operator describing the incident as regrettable. The pictures shared virally on Sunday through social media showed several dozen travellers in the departures hall of Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris praying… 41 mins ago Sen. Chukwuka Utazi, former Senator representing Enugu-North Senatorial District of Enugu State, says he quit the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) because the “ideals that attracted him to the party have receded into oblivion”. The Senator, who represented the district between 2015 and 2023, submitted his resignation letter to the Chairman of PDP in Nkpologu Ward… 1 hour ago Gov. Yahaya Bello of Kogi, on Sunday received the Emir of Kano, HRM Alh Aminu Ado Bayero, who visited to offer his condolences over the death of Ohinoyi of Ebiraland, Dr. Ado Ibrahim. During the visit to the Government House, Lokoja, Bayero told the governor that he was in the state to sympathise with him,… 1 hour ago The Israeli army said Monday it had arrested the prominent 22-year-old Palestinian activist Ahed Tamimi during a raid in the occupied West Bank. “Ahed Tamimi was arrested on suspicion of inciting violence and terrorist activities in the town of Nabi Salih” near the city of Ramallah, an army spokesman told AFP. “Tamimi was transferred to… 1 hour ago Level 400 students of Adult Education Department of University of Ilorin (Unilorin) have reconstructed the abandoned borehole serving Tanke Oke-Odo community of Ilorin South Local Government Area of Kwara. Mr Oladejo Abiodun, the President of Adult and Primary Education Students’ Association, Unilorin, told newsmen on Sunday that the project was a fieldwork and Community Development… 1 hour ago Ukraine said Monday that Russian forces had launched four missiles and nearly a dozen attack drones from occupied regions of the country in the south overnight. Fears are building in Ukraine that Moscow will launch systematic attacks on energy facilities like last winter, leaving millions with disrupted heating and lighting. “Fifteen Shaheds and one Kh-59… 2 hours ago The Inspector-General of Police (I-G), Mr Kayode Egbetokun has ordered the redeployment of the Commissioner of Police (CP) in charge of Imo, Mr Mohammed Barde to the Force Headquarters. This is contained in a statement issued by the Force Public Relations Officer, ACP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, on Monday in Abuja. He said the redeployment of the… 2 hours ago Chinese leader Xi Jinping will welcome Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to Beijing on Monday, a high-water mark in their nations’ ties following years of tensions that cut billions of dollars in trade. Beijing is Canberra’s biggest trading partner, but relations plummeted in 2020 after Australia’s then-conservative government barred Chinese tech giant Huawei from 5G… 2 hours ago Filipino widow Agatha Ando has learned to laugh again in the decade after Super Typhoon Haiyan smashed into the central Philippines, killing more than 6,000 people and leaving millions homeless. Fierce winds tore apart houses and toppled trees as tsunami-like waves whipped up by the storm obliterated mostly poor coastal communities on November 8, 2013.… 2 hours ago Gov. Alex Otti of Abia has expressed the state government determination to build roads that would enhance trade and commercial activities in the state. Otti said this on Sunday during the inauguration of the MCC/Old Express Road in Aba. The governor said his administration considered building good quality roads as not only critical to improving…
Comments