Australian business hails Albanese’s meeting with Xi as ‘tremendous reset’

The Business Council of Australia has hailed the Albanese government's "tremendous reset" with China as a breakthrough meeting was planned for Tuesday between the Australian prime minister and the Chinese president on the sidelines of the G20.

The lavish public praise from Westacott, who was part of an Australian business delegation in Bali, came as the US president, Joe Biden, and the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, met face-to-face for the first time in the Biden presidency.

After their arrival in Bali for the G20, the two leaders greeted each other cordially during a landmark meeting on the sidelines of the summit, and posed, smiling, for a handshake.

In his opening remarks, Biden said the US and China had a responsibility to manage their differences. Xi said there was a need to "elevate" and "properly handle" the relationship because the world had reached a crossroads.

A White House readout issued after the three-and-a-half hour meeting said Biden had told Xi the US intended to "compete vigorously" with China, but that competition "should not veer into conflict". Biden said it would be up to both leaders to "manage the competition responsibly and maintain open lines of communication".

With Taiwan a major flashpoint, Biden told Xi "our one China policy has not changed, the United States opposes any unilateral changes to the status quo by either side, and the world has an interest in the maintenance of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait".

Biden expressed objections to China's "coercive and increasingly aggressive actions towards Taiwan, which undermine peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and in the broader region, and jeopardise global prosperity".