China, Australia can become 'trusting' partners: Xi

BEIJING, Nov 6: Chinese leader Xi Jinping told Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese Monday that their countries could become "trusting partners", pledging to work with Canberra on everything from regional security to climate change as the two leaders eased 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, which was first detected in China.

A furious Beijing then slapped punitive tariffs on a slew of Australian commodities including coal, barley and 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.

Meeting Albanese in Beijing on Monday, Xi said the two countries had "no fundamental conflict of interests".

China and Australia, Xi said, could "become mutually trusting and mutually successful partners", according to a readout of the meeting by state broadcaster CCTV.

"In the face of major changes in the world, the two sides should grasp the correct development direction for China-Australia relations," he said.

This included cooperation on everything from "the peace and stability of the Asia Pacific region" to climate change, the Chinese leader said.    �AFP