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The federal government is continuing to publicly press China to drop trade sanctions on Australian goods in the wake of Anthony Albanese's meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, as both countries prepare to mark 50 years of diplomatic ties.
Key points:
- Australia's trade minister is optimistic about incremental progress in relations with China
- Ministers and officials warn of profound strains remaining in the relationship between the two nations
- Government sources say both Australia and China have floated potential solutions to the ongoing trade dispute
Some business groups and Australian exporters are now cautiously hopeful that China may be willing to quietly abandon informal bans on several Australian imports in coming months.
The government is also intensifying its efforts to resolve formal WTO disputes over China's crippling sanctions on Australian barley and wine.
This morning Assistant Foreign Minister Tim Watts used a speech marking the approaching diplomatic anniversary to again call for China to abandon trade blocks, arguing that both countries have prospered "thanks to the certainty, equity, and stability that rules-based trade provides".
"That's why the government has been clear and principled on the need for China to remove restrictions that unfairly impede trade," he told AsiaLink's Building the Future Together conference.
"We believe the removal of impediments to Australian exports and the full resumption of our bilateral trade would greatly benefit both Australia and China."
Most ministers and senior officials have been careful to play down the prospect of any immediate breakthroughs on trade disputes, warning there are still profound strains in the bilateral relationship.
But Trade Minister Don Farrell has struck a slightly more optimistic note, telling the ABC earlier this week that while progress would probably be "incremental" he was still hopeful China would unwind all its actions against Australian goods.
"I think bit by bit — at least this is what I hope will happen — we will get movement on all of those [trade sanctions]," he said on Wednesday.
"I am hopeful in the near future that we can make progress and we can start to unlock all of these blockages. In the meantime, our strategy … is diversification.
"We never want to find ourselves in a situation where we are totally reliant on one market."
A separate federal government source said both Australian and Chinese officials had informally floated different proposals to try to resolve trade disputes, but had not yet reached any agreements.
The source also said that both countries had identified climate change and renewable energy as an obvious potential source of future cooperation which could help rebuild contact and trust within the two systems.
Nations to mark 50 years of diplomatic ties
China's ambassador to Australia, Xiao Qian, and Australia's ambassador to China, Graham Fletcher, will both appear together at public events on both Monday and Tuesday – one marking the 50th anniversary of ties, and another one hosted by the Australian China Business Council focused on clean energy cooperation and decarbonisation.
The assistant foreign minister said the top-level meetings between Australia and China were "important steps", although he stressed there were "many more steps to go" to restore the relationship.
"But talking is better than not talking," Mr Watts said.
"We aim for a relationship of mutual respect and mutual benefit. Where we can manage our differences wisely."
He also echoed the prime minister's refrain that the two countries would "cooperate where we can" and "disagree where we must".
"At this juncture Australia and China have an opportunity to pursue stabilisation. To move forward with a better understanding of how our two countries can interact to our mutual advantage," he said.
"There are areas where we can and should work together. If China engages with Australia directly and constructively, we will respond in kind."