State Councilor Yang Jiechi met with Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop in Zhongnanhai on Feb 18 in Beijing.

Saying President Xi Jinping’s visit to Australia in 2014 had guided the development of bilateral relations, Yang expressed his willingness to see more high-level exchanges, deeper ties in trade, economics, technology and education between China and Australia.

China and Australia should make full use of their advantages to integrate their development strategies and deepen their cooperation in trade, Yang said.

China is willing to keep in close communication with Australia on important regional and international issues as well as to work together with Australia to achieve positive results from the G20 summit which is scheduled to be held in Hangzhou this year, he added.

Commenting on the bilateral relationship as “unprecedentedly close”, Bishop said Australia wants to improve cooperation and communication with China in areas such as tourism, education, judicial affairs and anti-terrorism.