Trade Minister Don Farrell tries wine diplomacy in China

Trade Minister Don Farrell gives Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao a bottle of his ‘Godfather Too’ shiraz after their high-level talks on Friday night.

After their meeting on Friday night in Beijing, Don Farrell gifted his Chinese counterpart Wang Wentao a bottle of 2019 Godfather Too shiraz.

When the interpreter conveyed it was a bottle from the Trade Minister’s own vineyard, Wentao beamed.

Farrell’s two-day visit to Beijing was marked by wine diplomacy, small forward steps, and the paradox of the man they call “The Don”. Farrell, the “Godfather” of the South Australian Right, is one of Labor’s most influential figures, and was attacked by Kevin Rudd as one of the party’s “faceless men”.

But the colourful descriptions misunderstand the man, who has worked throughout his career to do deals and find consensus.

In that respect, he may be just the right person to find a resolution to three years of punishing Chinese trade sanctions on $20bn worth of Australian exports.

Farrell’s two-day trip to Beijing failed to deliver immediate results, but it was never expected to.

He wanted to use the visit to form a close working relationship with Minister Wang, who was keen to reciprocate.

The trip’s positive vibes will be important as Australian and Chinese officials negotiate on the fine detail of the trade sanctions, just as Anthony Albanese’s meeting with Xi Jinping opened the way for Penny Wong to visit Beijing late last year. Once Xi’s blessing is obtained and a way forward identified, the Chinese system tends to click into gear.

Beijing will try to extract maximum value from any wind back of its punitive tariffs on Australian companies. But it knows the ongoing tensions are bad for business and only serve to highlight its own bullyboy behaviour, undermining its reputation elsewhere in the world.

Australian officials expect the meeting will be followed by movement on key Australian concerns.

Ultimately, it is likely to take several months, perhaps until the end of the year, before the nations’ trade relations can be stabilised. But the strategic tensions between the countries, and between the West and China more broadly, make it virtually impossible the bilateral relationship will ever return to “normal”.