On October 10, Australian Prime Minister Albanese announced after a meeting with Chinese Premier Li Qiang in Vientiane, Laos, that China has agreed to lift restrictions on Australian lobster imports, and that Australian lobster farmers will be able to resume exporting lobsters to China by the end of this year, marking the full lifting of China's trade restrictions on Australia.
Albanese stated, "I am pleased to announce that Premier Li and I have agreed on a timetable for the full resumption of lobster trade by the end of this year."
He said, "Through our patient, cautious and prudent approach we have resumed trade between Australia and our largest export market, and today we are discussing the restart of exports of live Australian rock lobster."
In 2020, then-Prime Minister Morrison banned Huawei from participating in the construction of Australia's 5G network, citing the need to maintain national security, and called for an independent international traceability investigation into the New Crown virus. In response, China imposed punitive tariffs, sanctions and unofficial bans on A$20 billion worth of Australian exports, which included agricultural products such as wine, beef, lobster and barley, as well as commodities such as coal, copper and timber.
After a new Australian government took office in May 2022, China-Australia relations improved significantly, with Beijing successively lifting import restrictions on Australian barley, wine, beef and other commodities, with lobster being the final trade obstacle to Australian exports to China.
Albanese said that with the gradual lifting of the restrictions, there has been considerable growth in exports of Australian commodities, including wine and barley.
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