Australian PM wraps up China trip with panda visit, calls for more research collaboration

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese visited giant panda Fu Ni in Chengdu, Southwest China's Sichuan Province on Thursday, who returned to China from Australia last year. Albanese wrote on social media that the "cute" panda is part of a "long-standing friendship between Australia and China."

Albanese is paying an official visit to China from July 12 to 18, traveling to Shanghai and Beijing, with Chengdu marking the final leg of his trip. 

"Fu Ni has settled back into life in Chengdu after 15 years in Adelaide. She's not just cute - she's part of a long-standing friendship between Australia and China. That friendship continues, with pandas Yi Lan and Xing Qiu now calling South Australia home," Albanese posted on X on Thursday.

Last year, Wang Wang and Fu Ni, Australia's only giant pandas, left the country for China after 15 years. They were replaced at Adelaide Zoo by female giant panda Yi Lan and male Xing Qiu, both from Chengdu, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

"Seeing these cute ambassadors up close is a reminder of the bonds that bring our countries closer," Albanese posted.

Albanese confessed that he is a big follower of panda videos while visiting the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, Australia's ABC news reported. 

The prime minister told the tour guide showing him around the center that he follows a bunch of accounts that post videos of the Chinese icons online.

"He does," fiancee Jodie Haydon interjected, per ABC.

The Australian Prime Minister also attended a Medical Technology lunch in Chengdu on Thursday promoting bilateral business deals in the space, including the manufacture of Australian-owned cochlear hearing devices in western China, Australian media outlet SBS news reported.

"Australia is a world leader in medical research. And Australian and Chinese scientists are working together towards new breakthroughs," Albanese posted on X.

During his stay in Beijing, Albanese visited the Great Wall on Wednesday and said in a post on X that "It was an honour visit the Great Wall of China today. It is in Australia's interest to have a stable relationship with China. Being here to advocate for our national interests directly is critical for maintaining and developing those ties." 

Albanese's visit to the Great Wall and the pandas follows a well-established precedent, Chen Hong, a professor and director of the Australian Studies Centre at East China Normal University, told the Global Times, citing as an example former Prime Minister Gough Whitlam, who played a pivotal role in establishing diplomatic ties between China and Australia and also visited the Great Wall. Similarly, former Australian prime minister Bob Hawke visited Chengdu Zoo, which offered to loan Australia two pandas for the 1988 bicentenary celebrations.

Notably, those two former prime ministers were members of the Labor Party. In this light, it can be said that Albanese's trip builds upon the groundwork laid by his predecessors, further advancing and strengthening the China-Australia relationship, said Chen. 

Albanese's China trip, which began Saturday and ends on Friday, is extraordinarily long compared with Australian state visits over the past decade and marks a normalization of bilateral relations that plumbed new depths under the previous Australian government's nine-year reign, AP reported on Thursday.

During his visit, China and Australia signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the implementation and review of China-Australia Free Trade Agreement on Tuesday, according to the Chinese Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM), Xinhua reported.

As 2025 marks the 10th anniversary of the agreement, the two countries will maintain close cooperation, continue high-quality implementation of the agreement, and jointly conduct a review to identify areas for further improvement or expansion, the MOFCOM said.

The visit centered on economic and trade cooperation, fostering the overall stability and development of bilateral relations, including in cultural and sports exchanges. 

Chen stated that he believes Albanese's visit to China was a success, highlighting the consistency and effectiveness of his China policy from his first term to his current second term.