President wants more deals with Australia

Accompanying Gillard is a high-level delegation including Australia's ministers of foreign affairs, defense, trade and financial services for talks with China's new leaders and the business community.

"It is a clear expression of Australia's determination to build broad trade, investment and political ties with China," Rory Medcalf, director of the International Security Program at Lowy Institute for International Policy in Sydney, said in an article published recently in The Diplomat.

Gillard said ahead of the meeting that she wants to take practical steps to strengthen and diversify the relationship with China, Australia's largest trading partner, according to ABC News. China-Australia trade in 2012 totaled more than $126 billion.

"What that means is a relationship that extends well beyond the economic and a relationship in which Australia and China work together, not just bilaterally, but where we have common interests regionally and globally," she said.

She said closer ties at a leadership level, trade diversity, a more extensive relationship in areas such as defense and education and climate change mitigation were all areas that deserve attention, ABC News reported.

Australia unveiled its first national security strategy in January, saying the country will continue to engage in practical cooperation with China and welcomes China playing an "increasingly active and constructive role" in the region.

It pledged to seek to "develop a more comprehensive dialogue across the breadth of issues of shared interest" with China.

On Sunday, Xi also held talks with Prime Minister Hun Sen of Cambodia, Prime Minister John Key of New Zealand, Chairman Zandaakhuu Enkhbold of the State Great Hural of Mongolia and Speaker Abdelkader Bensalah of the Algerian Council of Nation.

Contact the writers at wujiao@chinadaily.com.cn