Australians can travel to China for up to 15 days without needing to apply for a visa, in a move announced during Premier Li’s visit to Australia.
Australian travellers will be permitted stay in China for up to 15 days without needing a visa.
The move was announced during a visit to Australia by Chinese Communist Party Premier Li Qiang.
The program will allow tourists and businesspeople to make short trips to China without the $110 visa processing fee.
Mr. Li made the announcement in Canberra on Monday.
As part of the agreement, five-year visas were also agreed upon.
“We agreed to provide each other with reciprocal access to five-year multiple entry visas for tourism, business, and visiting family members so as to better facilitate personal exchanges,” Mr. Li said.
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“China will also include Australia in its visa waiver program.”
Mr. Li said the relationship between Australia and Beijing was “on the right track.”
During the same announcement, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese spoke of Australia and renewing its relationship with Beijing.
“Australia and China have renewed and revitalised our engagement,” Mr. Albanese said.
“We’ve agreed across a range of Memorandum of understandings (MoUs)and arrangements today that will continue to shape and drive our practical cooperation as we continue the process of stabilising the relationship.
“This includes a framework for us to work together to tackle climate change. Both our countries are undergoing energy transitions and investing in renewable energy.”
Mr. Li echoed Mr. Albanese’s statement on working together on climate issues, noting the eight Ministerial Dialogue on Climate Change will be held in Australia this year.
Mr. Li left Australia on Tuesday after a three-day trip in which he visited Adelaide, Canberra, and Perth.
During his visit to Adelaide, Mr. Li announced new pandas would be gifted to Australia. The aging pair currently in Adelaide Zoo will be returned to China later this year.
Mr. Albanese said the visit was an “important opportunity” to engage directly with key issues between nations.
“China is Australia’s largest trading partner and our economic relationship continues to bring substantial benefits to both our countries,” he said.
“We will cooperate where we can, disagree where we must, and engage in our national interest.”
It was the first visit to Australia by a CCP premier since 2017, and had a major focus on trade.
Two-way trade between Australia and China hit a record $327 billion in 2023, accounting for 27 percent for the country’s total goods and services trade.
The Albanese government continues to work on removing the arbitrary trade impediments that were slapped onto Australian goods in retaliation to the former Morrison government’s call for an independent investigation into the origins of COVID-19.
“My government has restored high-level dialogue and engagement with China through our patient, calibrated and deliberate approach,” the prime minister said.
“Dialogue is key to making progress on areas of shared importance, such as trade, education and climate change—and it allows us to pursue the national interest.”
During the visit, there was little mention by Australian leaders of the human rights protesters who followed Mr. Li from city to city.
Tibetans, Uyghurs, Hongkongers, practitioners of Falun Gong, a spiritual meditation practice, and other human rights protesters urged the Australian government not to set aside the CCP’s human rights abuses in return for trade.
