Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will land in Beijing this week on the 50th anniversary of Gough Whitlam becoming the first Australian prime minister to visit China in November 1973, after establishing diplomatic relations with that country the previous year.

From the beginning, diplomatic relations were based on “mutual respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, mutual non-aggression, non-interference in each other’s internal affairs, equality and mutual benefit and peaceful coexistence”. These six principles are anchors of the postwar international order and should continue to guide what has become a very significant relationship between the two countries over the intervening years.