G20 summit: Malcolm Turnbull set to meet British PM Theresa May over first post-Brexit free trade deal

US President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin are meeting privately at the G20 summit, as tensions brew between Australia and China.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull attends the G20 Leaders Summit in Hangzhou. Picture: AP.

US PRESIDENT Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin are meeting privately on the sidelines of the Group of 20 economic summit in China.

White House spokesman Ned Price says more details about the meeting will be released later in the day. The meeting is taking place in private.

Obama’s meeting with Putin comes as the US and Russia are negotiating to try to reach an agreement to end the violence in Syria’s long-running civil war.

Meanwhile, UK Prime Minister Theresa May said Australia will be “one of the first countries” they approach in the post-Brexit world.

In a meeting with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull on the sidelines of the Hangzhou G20 she said the “historic decision” to leave the European Union was an opportunity to strengthen ties with countries like Australia.

Mr Turnbull has said he is looking forward to working out a free-trade agreement with the UK.

Ms May said “the bonds between our two countries are long standing and extremely close”.

“(We’re) going to be even more outward looking around the whole of the world and obviously Australia with our longstanding ties and our close relationship will be one of the first countries we will be looking to,” she said.

Mr Turnbull described the countries as “such great friends, such strong allies”.

“Australia is determined to provide Britain with all the support and assistance we can,” he said.

Yesterday, Turnbull said a new Australia-Britain trade deal was “absolutely” something that could happen in this term of government and the process was already well advanced.

“We have got things moving towards having a free-trade agreement with the UK,” he said, but cautioned that it would take years to finalise because Britain would remain in the EU for some time.

Theresa May told reporters she would use the summit to begin talks with Malcolm Turnbull over a future trade deal. Picture: Supplied.

On her way to the summit, May told reporters Britain’s economy will suffer as a result of the decision to leave the EU despite signs in recent economic data that the impact has not been as severe as some predicted.

May told the BBC she would use the summit to begin talks with world leaders including US President Barack Obama, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Mr Turnbull over future trade deals. “I want to talk about how we can scope out what a trade deal and the negotiations on a trade deal would be like so that when the time comes, when we are able to sign those deals, we are able to do so,” she said.

Meanwhile, G20 leaders are also set to endorse a new set of rules to guide cross-border investment and new ways to help the world’s poorest nations.

Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May listens to Chinese President Xi Jinping (not pictured) speech during the opening ceremony of the G20 Summit. Picture: AFP.

Mr Turnbull insisted Australia has an independent foreign policy and does not have to choose between China and the US, amid growing tensions between the two super powers.

Ties with China, Australia’s largest trading partner, would get closer and closer, insisting its rise was welcomed and embraced.

“Friction between us is very modest relative to the scale of the relationship,” the prime minister told reporters in Hangzhou.

Points of difference between both nations were raised when Mr Turnbull met with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Sunday ahead of the G20 summit. President Xi told Mr Turnbull he hoped Australia would continue to provide a fair, transparent and predictable policy environment for foreign investors, after the treasurer blocked the sale of NSW electricity distributor Ausgrid to Chinese bidders.

Mr Turnbull said all countries including China were expected to respect Australia’s sovereignty when it came to foreign investment. “We decide who invests in Australia and the circumstances in which they invest. “That’s our sovereign right.”

Tonight the world leaders will read the official communiqué released by host, President Xi Jinping on the G20, which is expected to outline a way forward for the steel industry. A glut of steel in China has led to them dumping cheap product overseas; that dumping has been partially blamed for steelmaker Arrium’s downturn.

Mr Turnbull said a global forum on the excess capacity would work on the issue and pointed out that China was already seeking to reduce their steel production by 1.5 million tonnes a year.

“In fact they’re seeking to reduce it by 150 tonnes in total,” he said.

It is understood the leaders will approve guidelines for governments working on reforming their cross-border investment policies, amid growing concerns populist parties are pressuring nations to economically “hide under the doona”, as Mr Turnbull described it on Sunday.

The principles, which will be non-binding, will “help foster an open, transparent” global environment for investment, according to officials close to the talks.

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull listens to remarks made by Chinese President Xi Jinping the opening ceremony of G20 Leaders' Summit. Picture: Supplied.

The leaders will also endorse a plan to help developing countries, especially in Africa, lift themselves out of poverty over the next decade and a half.

The prime minister will also meet with French President Francois Hollande, as Australia seeks to seal a trade agreement with the EU and works with France to deliver new submarines.

An overarching theme of the final communiqué will be committing all G20 members to monetary, fiscal and structural reforms to achieve solid and sustainable growth.

Under pressure from Europe, the United States and Australia, there is also expected to be a statement on excess capacity in the steel industry which requires “collective responses”.

Chinese President Xi Jinping (right) shakes hands with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to the G20 Summit at the Hangzhou International Expo Center. Picture: Getty.

Turnbull believes the overproduction and dumping of cheap steel is threatening the viability of the industry in Australia.

European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker said on Sunday China must set up a mechanism to address its problem of industrial overcapacity, saying it was “unacceptable” the European steel industry had lost so many jobs in recent years.

“Overcapacity is a global problem but there is a particular Chinese element,” he said.

World leaders gathered in Hangzhou for the 11th G20 Leaders Summit from September 4 to 5. Picture: AFP.

China produces half the world’s 1.6 billion tonnes of steel and has struggled to decrease its estimated 300 million tonne overcapacity, and rising prices have given companies there an incentive to boost production for export. President Xi says he wants the summit to move from being one dealing with crises to long-term economic leadership.

“The G20 should fully honour its commitments,” he told the opening session. The leaders held a working dinner on Sunday night followed by a grand gala directed by Zhang Yimou, the film director responsible for the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2008 Olympics.