Anthony Albanese arrives in Chengdu on last leg of China visit

Anthony Albanese has landed in the world’s panda-breeding capital, kicking off a cruisy final leg of his state visit to China.

The Prime Minister’s arrival in Chengdu coincided with the launch of a 2026 Australian Open wildcard playoff in the city.

China has one of the largest number of tennis players in the world and boasts an enormous audience too.

After their meeting Mr Wang and Mr Albanese headed to the Sichuan International Tennis Centre to formally unveil the playoff.

In remarks at the event, Mr Albanese spruiked it as an example of how Australia and China were boosting their relationship through people-to-people links – a key theme of the visit.

Earlier, Mr Albanese received yet another red carpet welcome on the tarmac in Chengdu – the third of his six-day diplomatic and business blitz.

True to his other welcomes, he was quickly whisked away to a meeting with the Chinese Communist Party’s chief in Sichuan.

“I wanted to make sure on this trip that I came to western China,” Mr Albanese told Wang Xiaohui, saying he wanted to build relationships in the region.

He noted Sichuan province “has a state-to-state relationship with the state of Victoria”.

He also pointed out that Sichuan and Australia had a trade relationship worth more than $5bn, which he said was “more than many countries Australia has trading relationships with”.