Chinese Premier Li Qiang to visit Australia as Canberra continues push to lift trade barriers

China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi told his Australian counterpart Penny Wong that tariffs on wine were currently under review when they met on Wednesday
Wong said she was pushing for more trade curbs to be lifted, but warned ‘important differences’ on issues such as Taiwan and human rights still exist

China-Australia relations

Kawala Xie

Published: 6:00pm, 20 Mar 2024

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China and Australia’s foreign ministers have yet to reach agreement on removing trade barriers on Australian goods, but said on Wednesday that Premier Li Qiang was planning to visit Canberra.

Wang Yi, who is also China’s foreign policy chief, met his counterpart Penny Wong in the Australian capital on Wednesday as relations start to thaw following a series of disputes over trade and human rights.

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Beijing court hands down suspended death sentence to Australian writer Yang Jun for spying

“We should build on the good momentum of bilateral relations so far … to jointly build a more mature, stable and fruitful comprehensive strategic partnership,” Wang said.

“Since China-Australia relations are on the right track, we must not hesitate, deviate or turn back … This is in the common interest of the two peoples.”

He last visited in 2017, and relations have since deteriorated over Canberra’s decision to ban Huawei from its 5G network and push for a World Health Organization inquiry into the origin of the Covid-19 pandemic.

In response, China, Australia’s biggest trade partner, imposed punitive tariffs or outright bans on a wide range of Australian products, including barley, wine, beef and lobsters in 2020.

But in the wake of the election victory by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s Labor Party, which sought to improve relations, China removed tariffs on Australian barley last year.

It has also started reviewing tariffs on Australian wine, and the outcome should be known by the end of the month, Wang said during the meeting.

Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong greets her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Canberra. Photo: AP

No additional barrier removals were announced immediately following the meeting, but Wong said she hoped that tariffs on beef and a ban on lobster imports would be lifted soon and welcomed the removal of previous trade restrictions.

She also announced the planned visit by Li, saying both countries will work together to prepare for his visit.

But she said stabilising relations is an “ongoing work” and noted “important differences” exist on issues such as Taiwan, the South China Sea and human rights in Xinjiang, Tibet and Hong Kong.

“Obviously, these topics underline that we do have important differences. Dialogue enables us to manage our differences. It doesn’t eliminate them,” she said.

“But this government, in the interest of Australians, will always seek to manage those differences wisely.”

The Australian writer Yang Hengjun has been given a suspended death sentence. Photo: Handout

She also said they had discussed the case of Australian writer Yang Hengjun, who was handed a suspended death sentence for espionage in China last month. Wong insisted Australia will not “walk away” from Yang and will continue to advocate for him.

The detention of other Australian citizens – including Cheng Lei, the journalist who was released from China last year after three years in detention – and Canberra’s increasing defence cooperation with the United States and its allies to counter what they describe as China’s “assertiveness” are other issues that cast a shadow over relations.

Beijing has criticised Australia’s efforts to get hold of nuclear-powered submarines under the Aukus pact with the US and Britain, which it says will undermine regional stability and risks triggering an arms race.

Meanwhile, Canberra has also agreed to boost cooperation on maritime security with the Philippines, where the long-running territorial dispute between Beijing and Manila in the South China Sea has escalated in recent months.

Wang met business and industry representatives after the meeting, promising that China’s market would remain “wide-open” to investors.

Separately, China’s Minister of Public Security Wang Xiaohong met Australian Federal Police Commissioner Reece Kershaw on Tuesday and pledged to “jointly open a new chapter in China-Australia law enforcement cooperation”.

Kershaw is in China to sign three joint arrangements focused on countering narcotics trafficking and transnational crime in China, according to a statement by the Australian police.