Australia and China held bilateral talks between senior officials in Canberra on 12 April. These were led by the Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Ms Jan Adams AO PSM, and the Executive Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China, Mr Ma Zhaoxu.
The talks covered a range of bilateral and international topics, including trade, consular, human rights, strategic competition, and Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Secretary Adams reiterated that it was in the shared interests of Australia and China to continue on the path of stabilising the bilateral relationship.
The talks followed the agreement between Foreign Ministers at the Foreign and Strategic Dialogue in December 2022 to maintain high-level contact and commence or re-start dialogue in a range of areas. Australia and China last held bilateral talks at the Secretary-level in Beijing in February 2019.
Executive Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Ma Zhaoxu is the most senior official from China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He was formerly Ambassador to Australia (2013-2016).
