China And Australia: How Coal Shipments Resumed After Two Years Of Tension

According to Ben Westcott, China’s trade relations with Australia showed concrete signs of thawing with coal shipments resuming after more than two years and hopes of a return of lobster and wine sales.

Bulk carrier Magic Eclipse was anchored off the southern port city of Zhanjiang on Thursday morning.

Australia’s trade minister raised hopes that the lobster trade with China could restart within months, while China’s commerce ministry said it was willing to discuss tariffs that it imposed on Australian wine following a diplomatic dispute that began in 2020.

Australia’s Trade Minister Don Farrell told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. that Beijing had not rejected a recent application by Australia for fresh lobster exports to China. It was the first time since 2020 that the application had not been swiftly rejected.

China is Australia’s largest trading partner. However, Canberra is a close ally of Washington on security issues, which often led to tensions with Beijing during the past decade.

After Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao met with his counterpart Farrell, the two ministers agreed to enhance dialogue with the aim of ensuring the timely and full resumption of trade. There is a second coal shipment from Australia that is expected to dock in China later this month, solidifying the renewed trading relationship. Still Canberra remains concerned about China’s security impact on the region and retains tight controls on Chinese investment.

Westcott, B (Bloomberg). (2013). “China And Australia: How Coal Shipments Resumed After Two Years of Tension”. qCaptain https://gcaptain.com/china-and-australia-how-coal-shipments-resumed-after-two-years-of-tension/