AUSTRALIA’S Minister for Trade and Tourism Don Farrell said he was “pleased” with the result of his discussion with his Chinese counterpart Wang Wentao during a two-day trip to Beijing.
Senator Farrell held meetings and visited businesses in the Chinese capital, a sign of progress in restoring a nearly decade-long rift with China. The Australian trade minister previously said he will ask China to lift those sanctions on billions of dollars of imports from Australia.
Various geopolitical issues, including Australia’s insistence for the World Health Organization to investigate the origins of COVID-19 in 2020 further strained bilateral ties between the two major trading partners and resulted in a multibillion-dollar trade war. China is Australia’s largest trading partner, accounting for nearly one-third of its overseas trade, while the exchange of goods between the two countries reached 287 billion Australian dollars ($192 billion) in 2022.
In February, Farrell held a virtual talk with China’s Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao – the first meeting between an Australian trade minister and a Chinese commerce minister in three years.
Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang will reciprocate the visit by traveling to Australia in July as ties improve between the two countries.
