Albanese confirms he'll visit China 50 years after Whitlam
The Prime Minister will face an awkward juggling act: stabilising diplomatic ties with China while still blocking Chinese investment.
It's official. At a meeting with Chinese Premier Li Qiang on the sidelines of the East Asia Summit in Jakarta today, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese formally accepted an invitation from President Xi Jinping to visit China before the end of the year.
He will be the first Australian prime minister to visit the country since Malcolm Turnbull in 2016. It will be steeped in symbolism, marking the 50th anniversary of Labor giant Gough Whitlam's 1973 visit to China, the first by an Australian prime minister.
The visit will likely take place after Albanese's official visit to the United States at the invitation of President Joe Biden next month.
Albanese was hoping to meet Xi on the sidelines of the G20 in New Delhi later this week, but the Chinese president decided against attending the summit. Australian and Chinese officials then scrambled to lock in a meeting between Albanese and Li in Jakarta.
