China’s top legislator holds talks with Australian Senate president

BEIJING, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) — China’s top legislator, Zhao Leji, held talks with President of the Australian Senate Sue Lines in Beijing on Monday.
At present, dialogue in various fields between the two countries is being resumed and promoted in an orderly manner, and practical cooperation and people-to-people exchange are also becoming increasingly active, said Zhao, chairman of the National People’s Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, adding this is the hard-won result of both sides’ joint efforts and should be cherished.
Noting that maintaining the right perception of each other is the basic prerequisite for the development of China-Australia relations, Zhao said that China hopes the Australian side will maintain a correct understanding 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 of bilateral relations.
He called on the two sides to consolidate cooperation in traditional areas such as energy, mining and agriculture, expand cooperation in emerging areas such as green technology, new energy and artificial intelligence, and promote a fair, open trade and investment environment.
The two sides should deepen cooperation in such fields as culture, education and tourism, as well as cooperation at the sub-national level, and actively promote exchange between the young people of the two countries, Zhao added.
He said the NPC of China is willing to work with the Australian Senate to focus on implementing the important consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries, strengthen friendly exchange, and exchange experience in governance, legislation and supervision.
Zhao said China is willing to share development opportunities with countries such as Australia, promote the global green transition and development, and foster an open world economy.
Australia-China relations are very important, and stable, constructive bilateral relations are in the interests of both countries and the broader region, Lines said. She noted that the members of the Senate delegation in China come from different political parties and regions in Australia, but one thing they all share is that all of them hope to see the healthy development of bilateral ties.
Noting that the stabilization and improvement of bilateral relations is encouraging, Lines said that Australia hopes the two sides will be able to promote pragmatic cooperation further in the fields of the economy and trade, the green economy, climate change, and people-to-people exchange. Open dialogue between the two sides and the improved handling of differences are conducive to achieving win-win results, she added. ■