Australia anticipates China will lift final obstacle for exports as they ease past 2020 row

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australian Trade Minister Don Farrell on Wednesday predicted the final obstacle for exports to China, Beijing’s ban on live lobster imports, will be lifted soon after Chinese Premier Li Qiang visits the country.

The return of lobsters to the Chinese market would be a milestone in the Australian government’s ambition to stabilize bilateral relations since coming to power in 2022.

China banned minister-to-minister communications with Australia and imposed a series of official and unofficial trade barriers in 2020 on Australian products including beef, barley, coal, wood and wine costing exporters 20 billion Australian dollars ($13 billion) a year.

Bilateral relations plumbed new lows after a previous Australian government demanded an independent investigation into the causes of and China’s responses to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Farrell said Li becoming the first Chinese premier to visit Australia in seven years on Saturday would remove the final trade barrier on lobsters.

“I think there’s both the willingness on our part and the part of the Chinese government to remove all of the impediments in our relationship,” Farrell told reporters.

Lobster is the one remaining banned product, said Farrell, China lifted tariffs on Australian wine in March and restrictions on Australian beef in December 2023.

“I’d be very confident that the visit this week will result in a very successful outcome for lobster producers,” Farrell added.

Li will be accompanied by Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao when he visits the Australian cities of Adelaide, Canberra and Perth from Saturday until Tuesday next week.

Farrell said every meeting he had held with Wang since the center-left Labor Party replaced the conservative