AUSTRALIAN and Chinese officials are still finalizing the details of Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese‘s upcoming trip to China.
With the officials, still busy finalizing the details of the trip, business leaders have proposed that the Australian leader make the visit a more important one by making Beijing an economic partner.
Albanese confirmed he had accepted Chinese President Xi Jinping‘s invitation to visit Beijing this year following a meeting with Chinese Premier Li Qiang on the sidelines of last week’s East Asia Summit.
It will be the first time an Australian prime minister will visit China since Malcolm Turn Bull did so in 2016.
Australia China Business Council President David Olsson said he hoped Albanese would take representatives from the business community, noting that it would be a lost opportunity to leave them behind since Canberra’s relationship with Beijing is mainly economic.
Meanwhile, the Chair of the Business Council of Australia’s Global Engagement Committee, Warwick Smith, said that businesses had offered to accompany the Australian prime minister on his upcoming trip to China.
The long-awaited trip could likely take some time between late October and early December.
Sources said China wants Australia to avoid setting any preconditions on the upcoming trip.
