Beijing visit thaw as China talks turkey on trade

Trade Minister Don Farrell will travel to China in coming weeks after his Chinese counterpart agreed to face-to-face talks.

Trade Minister Don Farrell. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Lukas Coch

Trade Minister Don Farrell will travel to China in coming weeks after his Chinese counterpart agreed to face-to-face talks to work towards the “full resumption of trade” between the countries.

Senator Farrell and China’s Commerce Minister, Wang Wentao, spoke for more than 90 minutes in a teleconference on Monday – the first meeting between the countries’ trade ministers in more than three years.

Mr Wang said at the outset of the meeting that he wanted to work with Mr Farrell “to bring our economic co-operation back to the correct track”.

Senator Farrell said later: “Minister Wang and I agreed to enhance dialogue at all levels, including between officials, as a pathway towards the timely and full resumption of trade.”

The talks came amid a thaw in relations between Australia and China, which the government and exporters hope will bring to an end Chinese trade bans of Australian products, including barley, wine and lobster, worth $20bn a year.

Senator Farrell accepted a Wang invitation to travel to Beijing “in the near future” to “continue our productive dialogue”.

Mr Wang said “building mutual trust” would be key to resolving the nations’ trade difficulties, and predicted the trip would give Senator Farrell “a different impression” of his country.

It will be the first visit to China by an Australian trade minister since the Coalition’s Simon Birmingham’s trip to Shanghai in Nov­ember 2019, when he was unable to secure a meeting with his Chinese counterpart.

The upcoming trip follows Foreign Minister Penny Wong’s breakthrough visit to China in December, and could serve as a prelude to a prime ministerial trip to Beijing later this year.

An Australian business delegation plans to travel to China in coming months after a landmark November meeting between Anthony Albanese and President Xi Jinping signalled a stabilisation in the key bilateral relationship.

China has relaxed an unofficial ban on Australian coal imports, with several Australian coal ships due to arrive in the country in coming days.

Senator Farrell told Mr Wang that trade and investment had “always been part of the bedrock of our bilateral relationship”.

“Today we look to make that foundation even firmer as our two leaders said when they met last year,” he said.

Senator Farrell cautioned that Australia would continue to stand firm on its national interests, and was “firmly dedicated to the rules-based multilateral trading system that has supported our growth over many, many decades”.

In a statement after the meeting, he said he and Mr Wang covered a range of trade and investment issues, “including the need for resumption of unimpeded trade for Australian exporters so that Chinese consumers can continue to benefit from high quality Australian products”.

He said they also agreed to consider future co-operation on a wide range of issues including climate change and support for business leaders to travel in both directions. “With China’s border now open, Australia looks forward to welcoming Chinese tourists and students back to our shores, as we did with over 1.4 million Chinese visitors in 2019.”

Senator Farrell made clear last year the government could withdraw two World Trade Organisation cases against China if it showed “goodwill” by dropping trade bans; that would also send a message to Trans-Pacific Partnership nations not convinced of Beijing’s commitment to free trade.