Celebrating 45 years of Australia-China relations

On the eve of the third Australia-China High Level Dialogue, I have marked the 45th anniversary of bilateral relations between Australia and the People's Republic of China by launching a collection of stories celebrating the deep community and cultural links between our two countries.

45 Years, 45 Stories pays tribute to the everyday engagement between the people of Australia and China that underpins our official diplomatic relationship.

The stories show how far relations have come since Australian and Chinese representatives, Ambassadors Alan Renouf and Huang Zhen, signed a joint communique establishing diplomatic relations on 21 December 1972.

Australia established an Embassy in Beijing in 1973, and over subsequent years our diplomatic presence has grown – Australia will have seven diplomatic posts in China with the opening of a new Consulate-General in Shenyang in 2018.

The Australia-China bilateral relationship is based on strong economic, trade and investment links, an extensive program of high-level visits and wide-ranging cooperation, and is grounded in our Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.

Our relationship is also based on a long history of people-to-people links going back more than a century. This collection, 45 Years, 45 Stories is part of that history.