Anthony Albanese is wrapping up his whirlwind three-day trip in China, aimed at stabilising ties between the two countries.

On Tuesday, he was given a ceremonial welcome at Beijing's Great Hall of the People, after a "very positive" meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday night.

The elaborate ceremony in the cavernous Great Hall of the People featured an enormous military guard of at least 100 personnel from the People's Liberation Army (PLA) while the band played the Australian anthem.

He then held bilateral talks with his official host, Premier Li Qiang, who is considered China's second in charge.

While there have been few concrete announcements from the summit, it's clear Mr Albanese feels his trip to Shanghai and Beijing has been a great success.

The visit also drew lots of attention within China, with Mr Albanese gracing the front page of Communist party mouth pieces, The China Daily and The Global Times, which noted that "China-Australia relations are defrosting in the spotlight".

"On our way into the hall I shared with you that I see on social media of China that there are many sharing videos about your trip to China — including your speech, including the video of you running along the river with a yellow jersey," Mr Li told Mr Albanese.

"People were saying that we have a handsome boy coming from Australia."

From a refusal to budge on certain issues to symbolism and plenty of talk about friendship, these are the key takeaways from the visit.

The visit was dripping with symbolism

Gough Whitlam's historic trip to China 50 years ago was a key talking point of the trip and was mentioned multiple times every day.

The then Labor prime minister travelled to Beijing in 1973 not long after establishing diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China.

"In China we often say when drinking water, we should not forget those who dug the well," Mr Xi said during his opening remarks before his hour-long meeting with Mr Albanese.

"The Chinese people will not forget prime minister Whitlam for digging the well for us.

"And now, we are embracing a new 50 years in China-Australia relations."

Mr Albanese, accompanied by Foreign Minister Penny Wong, braved freezing temperatures on Monday to retrace Mr Whitlam's footsteps, somewhat recreating the iconic photo of the towering politician in Beijing's Temple of Heaven.

Li and Albanese to resume annual talks

At a press conference on Tuesday, Mr Albanese said China and Australia agreed on a joint outcome statement with "practical steps to advance dialogue" on climate change and trade.

It also included reciprocal plans to grant three to five year multi-entry visas for visitors and business people.

Mr Albanese and Mr Li announced the resumption of annual leaders talks between Australia and China.

When asked how he might like this trip to be remembered 50 years from now, Mr Albanese said people will see this is as a culmination of months of hard work.

"I would hope that there's a recognition that this was a point where the relationship moved forward, where dialogue occurred in a way that was respectful, where differences were able to be discussed in a way that didn't define the whole relationship," he said.

The trade relationship is well and truly out of the deep freeze

Trade Minister, Don Farrell, said he was receiving positive signals from his Chinese counterpart Wang Wentao that there would be movement on lifting the few final sanctions China had imposed on Australia products on lobsters and some beef.

 

Farrell and Albanese visited the Australian stalls at China International Import Expo in Shanghai on Sunday.(AAP: Lukas Coch)

It is understood Mr Xi expressed a similar sentiment in his meeting with Mr Albanese.

The overarching theme of the visit on both sides was that business between Australia and China — worth almost $300 billion last year — benefited both countries.

On his first day in Shanghai, Mr Albanese attended the China International Import Expo with Mr Farrell, touring stalls featuring products from Queensland, Tasmania and Western Australia.

There was plenty of talk of friendship, but there are still some trust issues

Mr Albanese couldn't quite bring himself to say he completely trusted the Chinese president ahead of his meeting with Mr Xi.

"We have different political systems, but the engagement that I've had with China or with President Xi had been positive, they have been constructive," Mr Albanese said.

"[Xi] has never said anything to me that has not been done."

But following the meeting, Mr Albanese said he'd invited Mr Xi to visit Australia at "a mutually beneficial time to be agreed on" and that the president had invited the prime minister to come back again in the future.

"It's not a matter of people wearing a hat here, building a relationship is what's going on here," he said.

"President Xi … whether in meetings, or other discussions that we've had one on one, have been honest and straightforward.

"I reiterated that we're not going to be defined by our differences and that where there are differences, you discuss them constructively."

Albanese doesn't want Australia to be the US and China's go-between

Mr Albanese also firmly rejected the idea that Australia would need to act as an intermediary between the world's two biggest economies, the United States and China.

Earlier in the trip, he said communications between the two nations were their own business.

"We have a relationship with China and have a relationship with the United States," he said.

"It's important that they talk to each other and I don't think that they need an intermediary to do so."

After the meeting, Mr Albanese wouldn't be drawn on his confidence that China would pick up the phone from the US.

"I walk away from the meeting satisfied that we have positive engagement between Australia and China in a way that built on our first meeting that occurred at the G20," Mr Albanese said.

Washington has previously stated China has failed to respond to more than a dozen requests from the US Defense Department to talk with leaders or engage with dialogues

Australia won't budge on some issues and neither will China

Mr Albanese said he raised China's human rights record and the plight of Australian writer Yang Hengjun — who's been in a Chinese prison for almost five years and is currently suffering poor health.

China is desperate to join a regional trade pact, impenetrably called the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership or the CPTPP.

It was expected Mr Xi could ask for Australia's support in its bid to join, but Mr Albanese said the president stopped short of doing so.

"He asserted China's wish to join the CPTPP just as part of a general issue about global trade and global economic engagement."

Beijing is certainly concerned about US influence on Australian foreign policy and the AUKUS agreement generally.

Despite the warm tone of most Chinese state media editorials ahead of this trip, that was one point of warning.

"The future will also hinge on Australia's ability to eradicate internal and external interferences to prevent a recurrence of past mistakes," an editorial in state media outlet The Global Times warned.

But Mr Albanese said AUKUS wasn't "explicitly" raised by the Chinese president.

"We discussed, though, regional stability and … on Taiwan, I reiterated Australia's support for the status quo and the positions that we take in the region," he said.

Mr Albanese said there were no requests made by the president at all and that it "wasn't transactional".

"I've said very clearly that one of the things that I've brought to this relationship isn't transactional, isn't you do this, and I'll do that," he said.

"It's not a matter of searching for labels or breakthroughs in a way that defines and changes the relationship at a particular point in time … this is a dynamic relationship."