CANBERRA - Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard has welcomed the transition of the Chinese leadership to Xi Jinping on Thursday.

A spokesman for Gillard told local media on Thursday the government congratulated Mr Xi on his appointment at the 18th Congress of the Communist Party of China as party general secretary.

"General Secretary Xi Jinping is well known to Australia and we look forward to working closely with him in his new leadership role to deepen and enhance bilateral relations and to strengthen our engagement on a broad range of shared regional and global challenges," he said.

"Australia is committed to a positive, comprehensive, constructive and cooperative relationship with China, now and into the future."