Three simple words Xi Jinping used to send a sharp message to Anthony Albanese at their G20 meeting – after China gave the PM the ‘compliment no one wants’

Xi Jinping has acknowledged the ‘twists and turns’ in China’s tumultuous recent relationship with Australia as he met Prime Minister Anthony Albanese ahead of the G20 summit in Brazil.

They were the third formal talks between the two leaders since Albanese took power in 2022, following strained relations between his predecessor Scott Morrison and China.

Albanese met with President Xi at the Chinese leader’s hotel in Rio de Janeiro on Monday before the pair arrived at the two-day G20 summit.

The talks marked ten years to the day since the two countries signed a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership brokered by then Prime Minister Tony Abbott during President Xi’s visit to Australia and speech in Federal Parliament.

Later at the summit, President Xi noted the “turnaround” in relations between the two countries, referring to trade sanctions imposed by Beijing in response to perceived slights from Australia, including a call to investigate the origins of Covid-19.

The meeting followed the Chinese state newspaper China Daily, which praised Prime Minister Albanese as a world leader that others from the West should try to emulate.

“Over the past decade, we have made some progress in China-Australia relations and have also witnessed some twists and turns and conditions,” President Xi said on Monday.

“That journey has much to offer in inspiration… Now our relations have turned around and continue to grow, bringing tangible benefits to our two peoples. So this is the result of our collective hard work in the same direction and must be maintained with great care.

Anthony Albanese (left) met with Chinese President Xi Jinping (right) ahead of the G20 summit in Brazil

Mr Albanese is pictured (centre) meeting with Chinese President Xi in Brazil on Monday

“I want to work with you, Mr. Prime Minister, to make our comprehensive strategic partnership more mature, stable and fruitful, and inject greater stability and security into the region and the rest of the world.”

Mr Albanese thanked President Xi for hosting him in Beijing last year and welcomed the resumption of leaders’ meetings between the two countries.

The Prime Minister also took to X to share images of the two leaders shaking hands and stated how the relationship is in the interest of both countries.

“Dialogue is crucial and we have made encouraging progress. Trade flows more freely. And that brings benefits to both countries, and to people and businesses on both sides,” Albanese wrote.

“Our approach will remain patient, calibrated and deliberate. It is important that we have direct discussions on the issues that are important to us, and to the stability and prosperity of our region.”

The glowing editorial in last Thursday’s China Daily complimented Australia for “waking up” to China’s importance and praised Mr Albanese for his “strategic autonomy”.

“Australia’s ties with China deteriorated as the previous Australian government fell under Washington’s anti-China spell,” the editorial said.

“But Canberra has woken up to the importance of those ties under the Albanian government and has started to restore them.”

But Albanese said his government has not changed “our position on the key disagreements we have” with China.

Instead, the government had worked to rebuild trade ties to boost Australia’s economic prosperity and job creation.

“We continue to explore opportunities for practical cooperation in areas of shared interest, including on our energy transition and climate change,” Mr Albanese said.

“Our entire region will benefit from the prosperity that can come from peace, security and stability in our region.

“That’s why our direct discussions to build deeper understanding about the issues that matter to us are so important.”

President Xi (right) is pictured during the meeting between the Chinese president and Anthony Albanese

Mr Albanese later greeted world leaders at the 2024 G20 Summit at the Museu de Arte Moderna in Rio de Janeiro

President Xi hopes to get countries like Australia on his side amid the potential of a tariff war with the US once Donald Trump becomes US president again in January.

President Trump has threatened tariffs of 60 percent on Chinese imports and tariffs of up to 20 percent on all other imports as part of an “America first” policy.

Mr Albanese will have to be careful not to upset both China and the US, as the world waits to see whether President Trump will do exactly what he promised or whether there will be any room to manoeuvre.

Under the Labor government’s watch, China has since May 2022 lifted bans on nearly $20 billion worth of Australian products imposed under the previous Morrison-led coalition government.

During a meeting on hunger and poverty in Rio de Janeiro, the prime minister linked the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East to food shortages, high inflation and poverty.

During the session, held on Tuesday morning Australian time, Mr Albanese said that in times of “global unrest” it is “always those who have the least who are most affected”.

‘While peace alone does not guarantee prosperity – conflict always brings poverty… We see this in the shocking loss of innocent lives in the Middle East.

“We see it in the continued toll the Russian invasion is taking on the brave people of Ukraine.”

The Prime Minister said the G20 summit of the leaders of the world’s 20 largest economies, including Australia, provided a “vital opportunity” for the international community to “call for a de-escalation of violence in the Middle East ‘.

He said it provides an opportunity to condemn “the illegal and immoral actions” of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Mr Albanese also used his speech to condemn North Korea – an ally of China – which he said is sending soldiers to fight in the war in Ukraine “while its own people are starving”.

Anthony Albanese and his fiancée Jodie Haydon (photo) arrived in Rio de Janeiro on Saturday evening local time

The Prime Minister and Mrs Haydon are pictured attending Sunday Mass at the Catholic Cathedral Metropolitana de São Sebastião do Rio de Janeiro

The Prime Minister called on other world leaders there not to “lose sight” of the effect that global economic challenges are having on people in their ‘daily lives’.

Mr Albanese and his fiancée Jodie Haydon arrived in Rio de Janeiro on Saturday evening local time.

Photos released by the prime minister’s office showed them walking around the city and attending Sunday Mass at the Catholic cathedral Metropolitana de São Sebastião do Rio de Janeiro.

Mr Albanese will also have one-on-one meetings with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in the coming days.

Before flying to Rio de Janeiro for the G20 meeting, he was in Lima, Peru for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit.

From Lima, Mr Albanese tweeted: “More trade means more jobs. That is what I am promoting here at APEC and next week at the G20.”