China's top legislator Zhao Leji held talks with President of the Australian Senate Sue Lines in Beijing on Monday, expressing China's willingness to work with Australia to build a more mature, stable and fruitful bilateral relations.
At the invitation of Zhao, Lines is leading a delegation to visit China from Oct 11 to 16.
During the talks, Zhao, chairman of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, said that under the strategic guidance of Chinese President Xi Jinping and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, bilateral ties have returned to the right track of healthy and stable development.
Zhao said China stands ready to work together with Australia to enhance political mutual trust, deepen mutually beneficial cooperation, and promote the building of a more mature, stable and fruitful China-Australia comprehensive strategic partnership.
Zhao called on the Australian side to stick to the right perception of China, view China's development in an objective and positive way, respect China's core interests and major concerns, and consolidate the political foundation for bilateral relations.
Zhao called on the two sides to effectively cement cooperation in traditional areas such as energy minerals and agriculture, expand cooperation in emerging areas including green sci-tech, new energy and artificial intelligence, and promote a fair and open trade and investment environment.
He also stressed deepening cooperation at the subnational level and in the fields including culture, education and tourism, and strengthening public support for China-Australia relations.
Zhao said the NPC of China is willing to make joint efforts with the Australian Senate to deliver on the important common understandings between the leaders of the two countries, enhance friendly exchanges between the leaderships of legislatures, special committees, bilateral friendship groups, as well as between NPC deputies and Australian Senate members, share experience on governance, and learn from each other's experience in legislation and oversight.
Zhao also provided relevant information on China staying committed to green development.
For her part, Lines said members of the Australian delegation were from different parties and regions in Australia, but they all hope for sound development of Australia-China ties.
Noting the stabilizing and improving bilateral relations are inspiring, Lines expressed her hope for further enhanced practical cooperation in such fields as economy and trade, green economy, climate change response and people-to-people exchanges.
She said the Australian Senate is willing to strengthen exchanges and cooperation with the NPC of China so as to contribute to the development of Australia-China relations.
China's top legislator holds talks with Australian Senate president
