CANBERRA, Australia– Australian Trade Minister Don Farrell predicted on Wednesday that the final hurdle for exports to China will be Beijing’s ban on live lobster imports, will be lifted shortly after the Chinese Prime Minister Li Qiang visit the country.
The return of lobsters to the Chinese market would be a milestone in the Australian government’s ambition to stabilize bilateral relations since he came to power in 2022.
China banned ministerial communications with Australia and imposed a series of official and unofficial trade barriers in 2020 on Australian products including beef, barley, coal, timber and wine, costing exporters A$20 billion. (13 billion dollars) a year.
Bilateral relations fell to new lows after a previous Australian government demanded a independent investigation on China’s causes and responses to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Farrell said Li becoming the first Chinese prime minister to visit Australia in seven years on Saturday would remove the final trade barrier on lobsters.
“I think there is a will on both our part and the Chinese government to remove all impediments in our relationship,” Farrell told reporters.
Lobster is the only banned product left, Farrell said, with China lifting tariffs on Australian wine in March and restrictions on Australian beef in December 2023.
“I am very confident that this week’s visit will have a very successful outcome for the lobster farmers,” Farrell added.
Li will be accompanied by Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao when he visits the Australian cities of Adelaide, Canberra and Perth from Saturday to Tuesday next week.
Farrell said every meeting he had had with Wang since the centre-left Labor Party replaced the Conservative government in 2022 had moved the trade relationship forward.
“I’m very confident that we will not only remove all remaining trade impediments, but we will actually be able to continue to strengthen our trade relationship with China,” Farrell said.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who in November became the first Australian government leader to visit Beijing in seven years, said Li’s visit was a symbol of the normalization of relations since the current government was elected.
“It’s been important for Australia to renew that trade, because one in four Australian jobs depends on trade, and one in four of Australian export dollars comes from trade with China,” Albanese said.
Farrell was speaking at Wirra Wirra Vineyard in the state of South Australia, which celebrated its 130th anniversary as a winery on Wednesday.
Since China removed tariffs in April, A$86 million ($57 million) of wine has been exported to what was once the biggest export market for Australian wineries, Farrell said.
This is more Australian wine than was sold to China in the previous three years.
Australia provided almost 40% of China’s imported wine and was a market worth A$1.24 billion ($820 million) a year to Australian exporters before tariffs virtually ended the trade in 2020.
While the trade relationship is improving, the security relationship is becoming more strained as Australia supports US efforts to counter China’s growing influence in the Asia-Pacific region.
Albanese said he will talk to Li clashes between Australian and Chinese forces over international waters in the South China and Yellow Seas.
Albanese also reiterates Australia’s call for an Australian blogger Yang Hengjun be released from a Beijing prison.
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