Chinese Premier Li Qiang has offered to send Australia two new pandas during his visit to Adelaide Zoo.
The new pandas will replace the zoo’s existing pandas named Wang Wang and Fu Ni, which are “friendly messengers of China-Australia relations,” Li Said said.
Mr Li’s arrival in Australia for a four-day trip is the first by a Chinese leader in seven years, marking an improvement in ties between the two countries.
Both China and Australia will view the visit as crucial in addressing outstanding trade and consular issues.
Mr Li said that while Wang Wang and Fu Ni would return to their hometown by the end of the year, he promised that “China will soon supply a new pair of pandas that are equally beautiful, lively, cute and younger for the Adelaide Park. [Zoo].
A practice dating back to the Tang Dynasty, which ruled from 618 to 907 CE, panda diplomacy – or sending pandas as diplomatic gifts – has long been a tool of China’s diplomatic efforts.
China is seeking to increase its influence in the South Pacific and expand security and economic ties with island nations historically linked to Australia.
This has been a point of tension between the nations for years, but bilateral relations reached a low point when former Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison called for an international investigation into the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic in China in 2020.
Beijing’s response was to impose high tariffs, including on Australian wine.
Mr Li’s Australian hosts also took him to a winery during his visit – a stark reminder that Beijing only recently lifted tariffs on wine.
Upon his arrival in Adelaide on Saturday, Mr Li heralded a thaw in the diplomatic rift.
He said: “Mutual respect, seeking common ground and putting aside differences and mutually beneficial cooperation” are key to the relationship.
But while ties between the countries appear to be improving since the Labor Party took power in Australia in 2022, differences remain.
These include removing remaining trade barriers and the release of jailed Australian democracy blogger Yang Hengjun, who was arrested at Guangzhou airport in 2019.
On Monday, Mr Li will be in Canberra to meet Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
Mr Albanese is expected to raise the case of Mr Yang, who was given a suspended death sentence in February on espionage charges.
As Mr Li engages in trade and panda diplomacy in Australia, Mr Yang’s supporters released a statement on Sunday saying Beijing’s High Court had reviewed and upheld the lower court’s ruling.
“Our most immediate concern is that Yang’s medical condition remains serious and untreated […] we urge Prime Minister Albanese to use his meeting with Prime Minister Li Qiang to directly demand that Yang be released on parole.”
