Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Thursday at a regional summit in Indonesia that he and Chinese Premier Li Qiang had made progress toward resuming “unimpeded” trade.
Albanese, in his opening remarks, emphasized the importance of continuing the progress made toward unimpeded trade between the two countries. In spite of the fact that Australia’s and China’s perspectives don’t always coincide, “we understand dialogue is absolutely critical,” he said.
Li extended an invitation to Albanese to visit China earlier this year, and Albanese accepted.
China imposed restrictions on a dozen Australian exports in 2020 in response to Australia’s demand for an investigation into the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic, effectively freezing diplomatic exchanges between the two countries.
China has recently lifted tariffs on Australian barley exports, and tensions between the two nations have subsided since the election of a Labor government in Australia in 2022. Australia wants China to remove restrictions on its other exports, including wine and lobster.
