Chinese Premier Li Qiang in Australia: Talks on Trade, Security and Human Rights

(Patria) - Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Chinese Premier Li Qiang will meet today in the first such visit by a Chinese premier to the country in seven years, with the host's agenda including trade ties, regional security and an imprisoned Australian writer, Reuters reported.

Li's visit marks a stabilisation of relations between the US security ally and the world's second-largest economy, following a frosty period when Beijing blocked twenty billion dollars' worth of Australian exports and friction over defence issues.

Protesters and supporters gathered this morning on the lawn in front of Parliament House in Canberra, where there was a heavy police presence, as Li was given a ceremonial welcome.

Li is on a four-day visit which Australia's foreign minister called "truly important" and which the guest said shows that bilateral relations have "returned to the right track".

Without China, which receives a third of Australian exports and covers a quarter of Australian imports, Australians would pay 4.2 percent more for consumer goods, an Australian business group reported. Trade with China increased the average disposable income of an Australian household by 1,700 US dollars last year, enabling 595,600 jobs or 4.2 percent of total employment, according to a study by Curtin University and the Australia China Business Council.

Australia is the largest supplier of iron ore to China, and China has been an investor in Australian mining projects. Li's visit will likely raise the question of whether Australia will continue to accept high levels of Chinese investment in its critical minerals sector, as Western security allies try to reduce reliance on Beijing for rare elements key to electric vehicles. Australia last month blocked several Chinese investors from increasing stakes in rare earths mining due to national interest.

Albanese said he would raise human rights issues in his talks with Li. The suspended death sentence for Australian writer Yang Hengjun, who was born in China, was upheld by a court in Beijing ahead of Li's visit, his supporters said on Sunday. They called on Albanese to ask Li to allow Yang's transfer to Australia on medical grounds, stating that "it is not possible to achieve a stable bilateral relationship with respect with China while their officials threaten the execution of an Australian political prisoner".

Yang, a pro-democracy blogger and writer of spy novels, worked in New York before his arrest at Guangzhou airport in 2019. Australia described his February sentence as "harrowing", casting a shadow over the recent recovery of bilateral relations.