Australian trade minister visits China as part of joint efforts to repair ties

Australian Trade and Tourism Minister Don Farrell visited China on Thursday as part of a joint effort to repair ties scarred by political rifts over the past decadeIn a statement issued by his office Farrell said he would be ldquoadvocating strongly for the full resumption of unimpeded Australian exports to ChinardquoChina is Australias biggest trading partner with twoway exchanges totaling 287 billion in 2022China recently resumed imports of coal cotton and copper from Australia after a lengthy unannounced trade embargoFarrell said he would push for a review of tariffs on Australian barley and represent ldquothe interests of Australian exporters and producersrdquoChina blocked such exports in retaliation for government actions targeting Beijings alleged interference in Australian elections civic life and the large AustralianChinese communityDespite improvements in economic relations ties between the two remain tenseIn April Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said bilateral relations were unlikely to return to the level of the early 2000s when trade was separated from political and strategic prioritiesAlso readlsquoDalit aaya dalit aayarsquo Overwhelming evidence of Darshan Solanki facing caste discrimination at IITBombay claims familySince then Australia has expanded security cooperation with the United States Chinas main rival for influence in the AsiaPacific regionBeijing has strongly criticized Australias participation in the socalled AUKUS partnership linking it with the United States and Britain to create an Australian fleet of eight submarines powered by US nuclear technology largely in response to Chinas growing military assertiveness in the South China Sea the South Pacific and the East China SeaAustralian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will host US President Joe Biden and the leaders of India and Japan countries with which China maintains active border disputes for a May 24 summit of leaders of the socalled Quad nationsAustralia has also blocked the sale of assets including critical infrastructure to Chinese companies on national security grounds in recent yearsFarrell said he would meet with Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao following a commitment in February to improve dialogue ldquoat all levels as a pathway towards the full resumption of traderdquoldquoSince then the Australian Government is pleased there have been several positive trade developmentsrdquo his office quoted him as sayingThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever