Chinese Prime Minister Li Qiang on Sunday visited Adelaide Zoo, where Chinese-born giant pandas Wang Wang and Fu Ni have lived since 2009.
Mr Li arrived in Australia on Saturday on a mission to repair relations. Panda diplomacy, lobstering and China’s global dominance in the crucial minerals sector are high on the agenda.
South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas told Mr Li at the zoo that Wang had “truly captured the hearts of South Australians” by viewing the giant panda in the exhibit.
Mr Li’s visit is the first by a Chinese prime minister in seven years and is expected to pave the way for President Xi Jinping’s first trip to Australia since 2014.
Bilateral relations collapsed during the previous conservative administration’s decade in power, with Beijing imposing a series of official and unofficial trade barriers on Australian goods in 2020, costing exporters billions of dollars.
This is the second leg of Li’s tour, after New Zealand, and will end in Malaysia.
