Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has accepted an invitation from Chinese President Xi Jinping to visit Beijing before the end of the year.

Confirmation of the visit came during a meeting between the prime minister and China’s second-in-command, Premer Li Qiang, on the sidelines of the East Asia Summit in Jakarta.

The bilateral talks between the two leaders come as both countries seek to ease long-running diplomatic tensions and resolve trade blockages on billions of dollars worth of Australian goods.

The upcoming trip to China will mark the 50th anniversary of prime minister Gough Whitlam’s visit to the Asian nation.

Mr Albanese said he had a “frank and constructive” discussion with China’s premier, with the pair discussing trade impediments, human rights issues and the fates of five Australians being detained in China, including journalist Cheng Lei.

“Australia seeks to work towards productive and stable relations with China based on mutual benefit and respect,” Mr Albanese told reporters.

“The co-operation and engagement between our two countries is always improved when there is dialogue when there’s discussion. That’s how you get mutual agreement.”

Mr Li said it was a pleasure to host the Australian prime minister at the meeting, and that Mr Albanese was welcome to visit Beijing “within the year”.

The last Australian leader to visit China was former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull in 2016.

The Chinese premier said in opening remarks that there had been positive momentum in the relationship between Australia and China since Mr Albanese met with Mr Xi at last year’s G20 summit.

“Since then, thanks to the concerted efforts of both sides, China-Australia relations have continued to show positive momentum and more improvement,” he said.

“A review of past interactions show when our relations are good and sound, both peoples benefit, and when things are not going so well, both sides lose from it.”

The meeting with Mr Li came after Mr Xi decided to skip the East Asia Summit, as well as the upcoming G20 summit in New Delhi.

While China had lifted tariffs on Australian barley, trade impediments remain on other Australian goods including wine and lobster.

Trade impediments imposed by China have resulted in a more than $20 billion reduction in the value of exports to the Asian nation, with more than $2 billion of blockages remaining.

Mr Albanese said officials continued to work on resolving trade blockages on Australian wine.

“That essentially is how the barley issue was resolved in the interest of both of our countries,” he said.

“It was acknowledged that we have an interest in working these issues through.”

The prime minister said he raised the issue of detained Australians in China, including three who have been sentenced to death.

“We will always make representation for Australians who have been given the death sentence for that to be removed,” he said.

The two leaders also discussed China’s economy, which had been experiencing a recent downturn.

But Mr Li said he was confident about the rise of China’s middle class, which is expected to double to 800 million people by 2035.

The bilateral talks coincided with the resumption of Australia-China high-level dialogue in Beijing, the first time the dialogue has been held since 2020.

Former Labor trade minister Craig Emerson and former Liberal foreign minister Julie Bishop attended the session in China on behalf of Australia.

While in Jakarta, Mr Albanese will also hold bilateral talks with Indonesian President Joko Widodo, who is hosting the ASEAN and East Asia summits.

The prime minister will next head to the Philippines for bilateral talks with president Ferdinand Marcos Jr, before flying to India for the G20 summit.

– AAP