Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has declared his high-level talks with Xi Jinping “very successful” as his visit was hailed by the Chinese president as ushering a new era in relations.

The prime minister met with the Chinese president in the Great Hall of the People on Monday evening for more than an hour.

Mr Xi cracked a rare smile and gave a warm handshake upon greeting Mr Albanese to the Chinese seat of power.

The Chinese leader said Beijing and Canberra had “worked out some problems,” referencing points of contention including human rights, escalation of threats against Taiwan and trade bans on Australian exports worth $20 billion at their height.

In his opening remarks, Mr Xi praised the prime minister for working to stabilise and improve relations with China.

“Now the China-Australia relationship has embarked on the right path of improvement and development,” the Chinese leader told the Australian delegation.

“I’m heartened to see that.

“A healthy and stable China relationship serves the common interests of our two countries and two peoples.”

Mr Albanese described the meeting as “warm” and “very successful”.

“What we have done is continue to put forward Australia’s position in a principled way, in a clear way, but in a way that hasn’t sought to amplify differences to score a political point,” he said.

The prime minister will meet with Chinese Premier Li Qiang on Tuesday at the Great Hall of the People, where he will receive a ceremonial welcome on the last day of his trip to China.

Mr Albanese is the first Australian prime minister in seven years to set foot on Chinese soil.

By Tess Ikonomou in Beijing