Xi Jinping leaves Anthony Albanese off list of leaders meetings

Phnom Penh: Chinese President Xi Jinping is keeping Anthony Albanese guessing about whether he will grant him a rare meeting next week, notably omitting the prime minister from a list of leaders he will meet during two high-powered Asian summits.

Xi will hold a highly anticipated meeting with US President Joe Biden on Monday at the sidelines of the G20 summit in Bali, an encounter the White House said would help sharpen their understanding of the Chinese Communist Partys goals.

The Xi-Putin meeting will be the first time the leaders of the worlds two dominant powers have met in person since Bidens inauguration almost two years ago.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying announced that Xi would also hold bilateral meetings with French President Emmanuel Macron, Argentinian President Alberto Fernandez and African Union chair Macky Sall on the sidelines of the G20 summit and the subsequent APEC leaders forum in Thailand.

She added that Xi would meet with other world leaders upon request, leaving open the possibility of a meeting with Albanese.

Xi has not held an official bilateral meeting with an Australian prime minister since Malcolm Turnbull in 2016, before the near total collapse in the nations bilateral relationship.

Before departing for Asia, Albanese said Chinas $20 billion-worth of economic sanctions on Australian goods were against the interests of both countries.

Well continue to put our case that these sanctions are not justified, that they need to be removed, he said.