Chinese premier and Australian prime minister meet at Australia’s Parliament House

By ROD McGUIRK
Associated Press

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Chinese Premier Li Qiang, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and senior ministers of both administrations are meeting in Australia’s Parliament House to discuss thorny issues. Among those are lingering trade barriers, conflict between their militaries in international waters and China’s desire to invest in critical minerals. Li is China’s most senior leader after President Xu Jinping. He arrived in the South Australian state capital of Adelaide on Saturday and the national capital of Canberra late Sunday in the first visit by a Chinese premier in seven years. At Monday’s meeting, Li will underscore China’s interest in buying a bigger stake in Australia’s critical minerals sector by visiting a Chinese-controlled lithium processing plant in Western Australia state.