Hopes pinned on meeting with Chinese premier for lifting of ban on Aussie beef exports

More than $500 million worth of Australian beef exports could be set to re-enter China if restrictions on eight abattoirs are lifted ahead of a visit by Premier Li Qiang next month.

More than $500 million worth of Australian beef exports could be set to re-enter China if restrictions on eight abattoirs are lifted ahead of a visit by Premier Li Qiang next month.

Experts are optimistic that China will remove lingering trade barriers on Australian beef exports from a list of Queensland processors caught up in a political stoush at the height of covid tensions between the two nations in 2020.

While a date is yet to be set, Premier Li is expected to travel to Australia in June.

The visit is the another step in the thawing of relations between Australia and China and is being seen as a chance to resolve remaining trade impediments on Australian beef and rock lobster.

China announced it would drop trade restrictions on Australian bottled wine ahead of Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s visit to Australia last month.

Economist at the ANU’s Centre for Applied Macroeconomic Analysis, Andrew Stoeckel, said it was “quite possible” Premier Li would drop the ban because it was in China’s best interest to reopen trade.

“A restriction on trade is a tax on commerce and while both parties are hurting from that, all our analysis shows that the importing country bears the biggest burden and China can’t afford the burden. They’re in trouble at the moment, their economy has slowed greatly and they can ill afford to restrict imports into their country,” Professor Stoeckel said.

“It is hard to get a reading on the politics, (but) he well could do that. He would use the visit to try and engage with Australia.”

Last week Trade Minister Don Farrell renewed the push to remove those restrictions on red meat at a meeting with his Chinese counterpart, Commerce Minister Wang Wentao.

Australian Meat Industry Council chief executive Patrick Hutchinson said he was “cautiously optimistic” of a resolution to the trade impasse.

But Mr Hutchinson said China remained a lost opportunity for the eight Australian businesses.

“What we’ve continually said is there’s still a lot of trade money left on the table with these guys left out. China is short on beef and will continue to be so. The US is going through the bottom end of its cattle cycle and we’re the most reliable supplier of red meat globally,” he said.