'Old friend' Rudd to boost ties

Mandarin-speaking Australian leader and former Beijing resident Kevin Rudd is about to dazzle the good people of China yet again with his genuine affection for their motherland.

The Australian prime minister's acceptance of Chinese people is reflected in his very own family. Rudd's daughter Jessica married Chinese-born Australian Albert Tse and the young newly weds once lived in the same Brisbane street as Rudd and his wife Therese Rein.

Jessica and Albert's marriage is a symbol of Australia's core value of multi-cultural harmony, the same value China also cherishes.