Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has declared Australia’s relationships with China as ‘renewed and revitalised’ amid talks that lead to a new 15-day Visa for Aussie travellers among other political issues.
The news comes after a formal meeting between the PM and Premier Li Qiang in Canberra and is also in the wake of a new Hangzhou to Melbourne route.
Albanese said a bilateral relationship was back on track.
“Australia and China have renewed and revitalised our engagement,” he said, “We have agreed across a range of MoUs [memoranda of understanding] and arrangements today to continue to drive our practical cooperation as we continue the process of stabilising the relationship.”
Premier Li Qiang also unveiled plans for visa-free travel to Australians which is currently offered to New Zealand and a number of European countries.
“We agreed to provide each other with reciprocal access to five-year multiple entry visas for tourism, business and visiting family members — so as to better facilitate personal exchanges, China will also include Australia in its Visa Waiver Program,” Qiang said.
Aussies may soon be able to travel to destinations like the Great Wall at ease! (Credit: iStock)
This week’s military talks come after a number of ‘close calls’ in the Indo-Pacific region such as a sonar attack on HMAS Toowoomba while operating in the South China Sea. Chinese officials pointed blame elsewhere.
“One of the very practical measures that we spoke about was improving military-to-military communication so as to avoid incidents,” Albanese said.
“So obviously what will happen is that officials will go away, and we’ll have that discussion about how that can be implemented in practice.”
Feature image: BBC News Youtube – ‘China’s Premier Li Qiang visits Australia’s PM Anthony Albanese’.