Australian PM Anthony Albanese has arrived in Shanghai, the first Australian prime minister to visit China in seven years in a crucial visit aimed at repairing relations between the two nations.
He was greeted warmly on the tarmac before being whisked to his first engagements.
“Pleased to be in Shanghai, marking the first visit to China by an Australian Prime Minister since 2016,” Albanese said.
“I look forward to continuing the dialogue between our two countries over the coming days.”
“I’ll be saying that Dr Yang’s case needs to be resolved and I’ll be speaking about his human rights, the nature of the detention and the failure to have transparent processes,” Albanese told reporters in Darwin on Saturday, shortly before his plane departed for Shanghai.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry this week defended Yang’s prosecution, saying his case had been handled in strict accordance with the law.
Albanese’s visit, the first of an Australian prime minister since 2016, signals an improvement in strained relations between the two nations since Labor was elected last year.
Albanese will on Tuesday meet Chinese Premier Li Qiang, whose message of congratulations soon after the prime minister’s election victory on May 21 last year raised the prospects of a reset in bilateral relations.
Beijing has previously refused top-level ministerial contacts between the two countries.
From the outset of his prime ministership, Albanese had demanded that China immediately lift what he described as “unjustified” official and unofficial trade barriers costing Australian exporters $20 billion a year.
Those barriers have since been substantially reduced and now cost around $2 billion.
Albanese credited his government’s different approach toward China for what he describes as “stabilising” the relationship, after nine years of conservative rule in Australia.
“My approach towards this relationship has been patient, deliberate and measured, making sure that both of our interests are put forward because that is the way that good diplomacy works,” Albanese said.
“The fact that it is the first visit in seven years to our major trading partner is a very positive step, and I look forward to constructive discussions and dialogue with the president and the premier during my visit to Shanghai and Beijing,” he added.
China is concerned by the level of restrictions placed on Chinese investment in Australia due to growing security concerns.