Premier Li to visit Australia in June amid warmer ties
End to official ban on live lobsters in place for more than three years expected to be announced
Premier Li Qiang is scheduled to visit Australia in June, a move set to consolidate improving economic relations between Beijing and Canberra following last month’s trip by Foreign Minister Wang Yi, according to two sources with knowledge of the issue.
Li’s trip is planned for the third week of June, one of the sources said, and it would represent his first visit to Australia since he was sworn in as premier in March 2023.
“It is also expected that the unofficial ban on Australian live lobsters will be lifted as a signal of resuming a normal and friendly trade relationship for both sides,” the source said, with the curbs having been in place for more than three years.
The major topics of the visit, however, remain unknown.
“The Australian government has consistently advocated – including during the recent visit of Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi – for the full and timely removal of all trade impediments, including those affecting exports of live rock lobster to China,” Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said in a statement.
It added that the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry was “engaged in discussions” with its counterparts in China to resolve the issues.
The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet in Canberra, though, did not comment on the visit.
Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning, meanwhile, provided no specific information on the visit at a press conference yesterday.
“We are ready to stand with Australia … to strengthen high level exchanges, deepen cooperation, increase mutual understanding, and bring China-Australia relations onto a more mature, stable and fruitful track,” she said.
Li’s visit is viewed as reciprocal to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s trip to China in November, which was the first by an Australian leader in seven years.
During March’s visit by Wang, Foreign Minister Penny Wong said Australia was already preparing for a visit by China’s premier, who oversees economic and financial affairs and is vital for policies affecting imports of Australian iron ore, wine and aquatic products.
Wong said the administration looked forward to “welcoming Premier Li to Australia”, while Albanese had earlier invited Li to Australia during his trip to Beijing at the end of last year.
Last month, Wang discussed signing a new science and technology agreement with Australian counterpart Wong in exchange for Canberra’s request to lift trade sanctions. “But Wong did not really respond [to the pitch],” another source said.
Instead, the pair exchanged views and some fundamental differences over Taiwan, the South China Sea, the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, Tibet, Hong Kong and the Israel-Gaza war.
Australian coal, barley, cotton, beef and dairy products have all gradually returned to the Chinese market from last year having been under various official and unofficial bans since then Australian prime minister Scott Morrison called for an independent investigation into the origins of the coronavirus in 2020.
Andrew Ferguson, from seafood provider Ferguson Australia, said “things sound positive” after China lifted its anti-dumping and anti-subsidy tariffs on Australian wine last month.
“Things are trending in a positive direction,” he said. “[We had] a big launch for our premium frozen lobsters at the grand opening [in April] of the Yuhu cold chain centre in Guangzhou. I’m very excited for this venue to open up.”