Albanese locks in meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping at G20 in Bali

Anthony Albanese has confirmed he will meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the G20 Summit in Bali.

Anthony Albanese says he will meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the G20 Summit in Indonesia on Tuesday.

The Prime Minister spoke briefly to reporters on the tarmac on Monday evening AEDT after touching down at the airport in Bali, where he confirmed he would meet with Mr Xi.

“I’m looking forward to that constructive meeting,” Mr Albanese told travelling Australian media.

It will be the first time in six years the leaders of Australia and China have had a formal meeting, although former prime minister Scott Morrison had a brief discussion with Mr Xi on the sidelines of the G20 summit in 2019.

Tuesday’s meeting comes amid signs of a thawing of the frosty relationship between the two countries.

Mr Albanese said he would enter the talks “with goodwill” and without “preconditions” – such as asking China to lift its sanctions on key Australian exports.

“I’ve said since I became the Prime Minister, but before then as well, that dialogue is always a good thing,” he said.

“We need to talk in order to develop mutual understanding.”

Anthony Albanese, pictured in Cambodia for the ASEAN summit, says he will meet with Xi Jinping on Tuesday. Picture: Twitter

Asked if he would advocate for Beijing to place pressure on Russia to bring the war in Ukraine to an end, Mr Albanese said: “Well, we have a very clear position and it’s a consistent position that there is a need for Russia to withdraw from this aggressive action that is against international law.

“And that is creating hardship – particularly, of course, in Ukraine – but it’s also damaging the international economy and damaging international food security.”

China has not condemned Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, with Beijing and Moscow continuing an at-times uneasy alliance amid the ongoing conflict in eastern Europe.

Mr Albanese said he would advocate for Australia at his meeting with Mr Xi, after Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said China was ready to “meet Australia halfway”.

In a statement provided to Chinese state media earlier on Monday, Premier Li said his nation wanted to “seize the opportunity” to work on the relationship.

“China is ready to meet Australia halfway, and work with Australia to seize the opportunity of the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations to promote sustained, sound and steady growth of China-Australia relations,” he said.

Premier Li issued the statement after he met with Mr Albanese at the ASEAN summit in Cambodia over the weekend.

Chinese President Xi Jinping will meet with Mr Albanese on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Bali. Picture: Kevin Frayer/Getty Images

Mr Albanese is the first Australian leader in three years to speak face-to-face with Premier Li.

Mr Albanese was hopeful talks with Mr Xi would take place on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Bali, where the leaders of the world’s biggest economies have gathered for their annual conference.

Trade Minister Don Farrell said the government was “not going to give up” on attempting to get Beijing to lift its tariffs on Australian goods such as wine and barley.

“I’ve made it very clear in the six months that I’ve been in this job that I want to see a normalisation of relations with China,” he told the ABC.

“I think we’re expecting things to change overnight, but we want them heading in the right direction and the right direction is the normalisation of relations with China.”