Canberra aims to reset frosty relations with Beijing on Wednesday when Marise Payne becomes the first Australian foreign minister in almost three years to visit the Chinese capital for talks with her counterpart Wang Yi.
The invitation for Ms Payne to attend an Australia-China Foreign and Strategic Summit comes amid a bruising trade war between China and the US, which has prompted Beijing to improve ties with several countries, including Japan.
The move towards detente follows tension over the passage of Australian laws against foreign interference that targeted China, as well as the exclusion of telecoms group Huawei from participating in the building of Australia’s 5G mobile network. Chinese investment in Australia fell 40 per cent last year.