Abbott departs for Beijing to walk the world stage at APEC

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott has departed for Beijing – Asia-Pacific’s economic powerhouse – where he will meet with international leaders as part of the annual APEC summit.

His first order of business is expected to be an hour-long meeting with US President Barack Obama, which will be the only meeting the pair will have over the next fortnight.

On the first day of the trip, Chinese President Xi Jinping will also sit down for bilateral talks with Mr Abbott and then on Tuesday, it will be Russian President Vladimir Putin’s turn.

While he’s no longer threatening to “shirtfront” the Russian leader, Mr Abbott has promised a robust conversation in relation to downed MH17.

When Gough Whitlam travelled to China in 1973 he signed a sugar trade deal with the Chinese government.

Four decades on, Mr Abbott is expecting to finalise details of a Free Trade Agreement that is more than 10 years in the making.