China’s second-most powerful leader has arrived at the heart of Australia’s democracy to fanfare and frustration.

Chinese Premier Li Qiang’s motorcade pulled into Parliament House on Monday as protesters’ chants reverberated during the ceremonial 19-gun salute.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton welcomed Mr Li at the forecourt with strong handshakes and smiles before standing together for a marching band rendition of China’s national anthem.

Mr Albanese will hold an annual leaders’ meeting in Canberra with the premier before inviting him to a state lunch with politicians, business representatives and community leaders.

Remaining trade tariffs on lobsters and beef, and the imprisonment of Australian writer Yang Hengjun will be top of the agenda as Australia continues to stabilise the bilateral relationship, cabinet minister Murray Watt said.

“We now have dialogue, we are now in a position to raise the issues, and it makes it much more likely that we can resolve them when we can actually have these discussions,” he told ABC radio on Monday.

“The careful efforts of the Albanese government to stabilise this relationship is paying real dividends for our farmers, our agriculture sector, our mining sector.

“That means jobs for Australians and export dollars, which is really important for our economy.”

He also noted there had been “enormous progress” in restoring trade with China in the past few years after sanctions on coal, wine and barley were lifted.

The opposition, including Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce, is urging the government to stand up for itself when addressing thornier issues like foreign interference and broader geopolitical issues.

“If you’ve got a choice between us leasing two pandas or having a more peaceful world under global rules – well, I think I’ll take the latter,” he told Seven’s Sunrise.

“We have got to stand up for ourselves, because otherwise, people say you’re weak, and if you’re weak, you get walked over.”

Senator Watt said these issues had already been raised and would continue to be a topic of discussion during Monday’s talks.

Premier Li’s visit is the first by a Chinese premier to Australia in seven years and comes after a period of turbulence for the country’s biggest trading partner, while recent military incidents in international waters have threatened the diplomatic thaw.

Both pro and anti-China protesters have congregated throughout Canberra with flags and bunting on street corners near Parliament.

Red and yellow flags were emblazoned across parliament’s lawns in a sign of nationalist pride while banners accusing the Chinese government of committing genocide flank the city’s main roads.

Australia’s economic ties with China had helped Beijing normalise “atrocious human rights abuses” in the Buddhist region, said Kyinzom Dhongue, an Australian Tibetan community spokesperson.

The Chinese Communist Party was erasing Tibetan culture by removing children from their families and sending them to government-run boarding schools, akin to Australia’s stolen generation, she said.

“China is repeating that colonial project in Tibet,” she told AAP.

“China knows they have destroyed our homes, they have destroyed our monasteries, but they know that they still haven’t managed to kill the Tibetan culture,”

“So what they’re trying to do is kill the Tibetan in that child by taking them away from their families, from their culture.”

The remaining trade bans are expected to be lifted within weeks but exporters could face them again, Australian National University research fellow Benjamin Herscovitch warned.

“Canberra will be trying to hold the line, not give Beijing too much but also not once again enrage Beijing and prompt Beijing to impose trade restrictions once again,” Dr Herscovitch told ABC.

Premier Li Qiang arrived in South Australia on Saturday where he visited China’s pandas at Adelaide Zoo before strolling around a local winery.

A trip to Australia’s resource powerhouse Western Australia will make up the latter part of his visit.

This post was originally published on Michael West.