Anthony Albanese talks with US leader Joe Biden, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang at summit in Cambodia

Anthony Albanese and Joe Biden have discussed China’s increasing aggression ahead of the US President’s meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

The Prime Minister also invited Mr Biden to address Australia’s Parliament when he travels Down Under for the Quad leaders meeting next year.

The one-on-one discussion between the two leaders in Cambodia came after Mr Albanese spoke in person with China’s Premier Li Keqiang at an ASEAN gala dinner.

Australia hopes the talks act as a precursor to a potential meeting between Mr Albanese and Mr Xi on the sidelines of either the G20 or APEC summits this week.

But Mr Albanese would not be drawn on whether that was now increasingly likely.

“We’ll engage constructively, with dialogue with countries that wish to engage with us. And I’ve said that we should cooperate with China where we can and that’s what we’re doing,” he said.

Mr Biden and Mr Albanese met for 40 minutes in Sunday afternoon after the summit’s formal events.

They discussed the AUKUS deal that is expected to lead to Australia getting nuclear-powered submarines, climate change and its national security dimensions, and next year’s Quad meeting in Australia.

Mr Biden said earlier in the day that he intended to canvass with the leaders of Japan and Korea any matters they wanted him to raise with Mr Xi.

Mr Albanese said the US welcomed Australia’s position in the region.

“I think that Australia’s standing in the region has risen and that is a benefit for all those who have respect for Australia’s position, and the United States is one of those,” he said.

American officials said the leaders “recognised the imperative of maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait”.

The Prime Minister said the meeting, his fourth with Mr Biden since May, have been very warm and friendly — proof of which could be seen in their close body language as they exited.

“I think we relate to each other pretty well,” Mr Albanese said. “We come from similar backgrounds.

“He’s pointed out in the past that we’re both Catholic working-class people who lead our party and now have the great honour of leading our respective countries.”

At the ASEAN dinner on Saturday night, Mr Albanese and Mr Li spoke for three or four minutes via an interpreter about the 50-year anniversary of diplomatic relations between Australia and China.

Footage of the discussion shows Mr Li making rolling gestures several times and the two men shaking hands before they sit down to dinner.

“I saw it as a very positive engagement and it was polite,” Mr Albanese said.

It’s the first time the two senior leaders have met, although Mr Li sent his congratulations to Mr Albanese after his election victory in May, a detail he reminded the Prime Minister of on Saturday night.

The Chinese Premier has not met an Australian leader in person since 2019.

Despite that thawing in the relationship, on Sunday at the East Asia Summit, Australia and China were originally set to be seated next to each other but officials switched the arrangements at the last minute.

Mr Albanese continues to be open to a formal meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping to rebuild the troubled diplomatic relationship between the countries.

He flagged last week that he would ask the Chinese leader to lift $20 billion worth of trade sanctions on Australia.

WA Premier Mark McGowan said he would welcome any steps towards rebuilding the relationship between the two countries.

“China is our major trading partner, accounting for more than half of Western Australia’s total goods exports,” he said.

“There are hundreds of thousands of WA jobs dependent on the relationship, so it is important that we continue to build ties.”

The Chinese and American presidents will meet on Monday in Bali ahead of the G20 summit.

“I know Xi Jinping. I’ve spent more time with him than any other world leader,” Mr Biden said on Sunday.

“We have very little misunderstanding. We just got to figure out where the red lines are ... I’ve always had straightforward discussions with him.”

Mr Xi is also meeting the leaders of France, Senegal, Argentina, Indonesia and Thailand while at the G20 and APEC.

However, nothing has been locked in yet for Australia, which would be the first at the leader level since 2017.

Nationals leader David Littleproud said Mr Albanese and Foreign Minister Penny Wong had taken the right approach to the relationship with China.

“Things are difficult with China and they’re going to continue to be difficult with China,” he said.

“We don’t engage until we get to the basis of them giving away the financial coercive powers that they put on us, on whether it be on beef or grain or on seafood.

“The best way to solve any difficulty is through dialogue.

“But there has to be a basis and there has to be a line in the sand in which you move forward from. We put that line in the sand.”

During the formal East Asia Summit proceedings, Mr Albanese underlined Australia’s commitment to the AUKUS partnership.

The enhanced security relationship with the US and UK has put some of Australia’s neighbours, including Indonesia, on edge.

China also threatened to take action with the International Atomic Energy Agency over the deal.

Mr Albanese told leaders AUKUS formed only one part of Australia’s response to the complex regional security environment and that the country remained committed to the principles of the global nuclear non-proliferation regime.