China and Australia will hold a virtual meeting with the aim of resuming trade ties after more than two years of Asian sanctions on the Oceanic country’s exports.
The top trade representatives of China and Australia, Commerce Minister Wang Wentao and his Australian counterpart Don Farrell, will meet by videoconference in the midst of the economic dispute between the two countries, however, the date of the meeting is still unknown.
This meeting is a further step in the thawing of economic relations between the two countries following Beijing’s informal ban on Australian exports last April 2020.
As reported by the Australian newspaper ‘The Sydney Morning Herald’, the meeting was agreed during a 45-minute exchange between Deputy Trade Minister Tim Ayres and his Chinese counterpart Wang Shouwen at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
«Since I took up this position seven months ago, I made it very clear that we would prefer to resolve this issue with China through dialogue and discussion, rather than resorting to World Trade Organization arbitration on Friday,» said Minister Farrell.
In this regard, the Asian giant announced measures against Australian products, including wine, coal and seafood, after former Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison urged the Chinese government to conduct research into the origin of the coronavirus pandemic.
This is not the first rapprochement between the two countries, as last week Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese declared that his main objective was to restore trade relations with China, as part of negotiations to lift the veto on imports of Australian coal.
«China is our main trading partner, and we have been working to change the relationship,» the prime minister responded during a press conference in Townsville, in the state of Queensland, when asked about the negotiations on the Australian coal veto and the impact of this fact on the Australian economy.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
