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China expressed its hope on Monday for ties with Australia to return to the right track and develop in a sustainable manner, a day before Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong visits China. Wong will visit China for two days at the invitation of State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who is also member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee. The two countries' foreign ministers will have talks and hold the latest round of the China-Australia Diplomatic and Strategic Dialogue, which was last held in Beijing in 2018, according to Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning. China hopes that through this visit, the two countries will further implement the important consensus their leaders reached at their meeting on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in November in Bali, Indonesia, Mao said. In a statement issued on Monday, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the visit would build on the "constructive meeting" between him and President Xi Jinping in Bali, and that "Australia seeks a stable relationship with China". At the meeting in Bali, Xi and Albanese expressed their wish for improved China-Australia ties and strengthened bilateral economic and trade cooperation. Noting that Wednesday marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Australia, Mao, the spokeswoman, said that China expects to take the anniversary as an opportunity to strengthen dialogue and expand cooperation with Australia while managing differences. Bilateral ties had deteriorated for years due to a series of actions taken by the former Australian government, including offending China's core interests, falsely accusing China of "infiltration" and limiting Australia's cooperation with China. China has pointed out on various occasions that the crux of the ties' deterioration lies in that some political forces in Australia insisted on viewing China as a "rival" and a "threat". Wong is the first Australian foreign minister to visit China in four years, as bilateral relations began to show signs of progress after Australia's new government took office in June. The two countries' defense ministers met in Singapore in June, and their foreign ministers engaged in several interactions from July to November. China and Australia established diplomatic relations on Dec 21,1972, and lifted their relations to the level of a comprehensive strategic partnership in November 2014. |
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