By Peter Hobson and Ella Cao CANBERRA/BEIJING (Reuters) -Canberra is close to an agreement with Beijing that would allow Australian suppliers to ship five trial canola cargoes to China, sources familiar with the matter said,

China doesn't want to kick up too much dust as it presents a friendlier face to the major US allies in this region: Australia, Japan and South Korea.

The U.S. Navy’s George Washington Carrier Strike Group is joining in exercise Talisman Sabre, contributing thousands of sailors to the largest iteration of the multilateral exercise off the coast of Australia in the CSG’s first major international exercise since returning to Japan.

Major miner BHP has said it is too costly for Australia to build a "green iron" industry after the country and China agreed this week to jointly work to decarbonise the steel supply chain, responsible for nearly a tenth of global emissions.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has kicked off a visit to China meant to shore up relations between the two countries

Australia is now less sensitive to China, but Chinese growth is likely to be enough to keep the iron ore price elevated.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese meets with China's Premier Li Qiang, who takes a thinly veiled swipe at Donald Trump's tariff policies while calling for greater economic ties between Australia and China.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Australia values its relationship with China and will approach it in a “calm and consistent” manner, during opening remarks at a meeting with President Xi Jinping.

China's Ministry of Commerce and Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) regarding the implementation and review of China-Australia free trade agreement (FTA),