China-Australia relations: envoy's rock lobster visit raises hopes of further easing of trade bans

A visit by China's most senior diplomat in Western Australia to the world's largest exporter of Australian rock lobsters this week has raised hopes that Beijing will also lift its unofficial ban on seafood imports after coal was seemingly the first to benefit from the easing of political and trade tensions with Canberra.

Long Dingbin, China's envoy at its consulate in Perth, visited the Geraldton Fishermen's Cooperative on Tuesday, just days after it was reported China had lifted its unofficial ban on imports of Australia thermal and coking coal that had been in place since 2020.

The visit took place on the same day Chinese ambassador to Australia, Xiao Qian, said that China and Australia will "come back to a normal kind of relationship", while it could also pave the way for Australian trade minister Don Farrell to visit Beijing later this year.

Do you have questions about the biggest topics and trends from around the world? Get the answers with SCMP Knowledge, our new platform of curated content with explainers, FAQs, analyses and infographics brought to you by our award-winning team.

"I believe that there will be further development between the two countries with efforts being made by both sides, and the Geraldton Fishermen's Cooperative will play a bigger role for the fishery industry of both nations," Long said, according to the consulates official WeChat account.

Long added that he hoped the cooperative would cement its confidence on working with China through utilising platforms including the international import and export expos.

Expectations that Beijing will soon lift its unofficial restrictions on Australia rock lobsters further demonstrate the resumption of trade ties between China and Australia, according to analysts.

Last week, it was reported that China's state planner, the National Development and Reform Commission, had held talks with four state-owned importers over a partial lifting of the verbal ban on Australian coal.

"Removing disruptions to coal and lobster would provide a positive backdrop for an expected visit to Beijing by the Australia trade minister in the coming months," said James Laurenceson, the director of the Australia-China Relations Institute at the University of Technology Sydney.

"That would also provide an obvious occasion where the two countries could announce bilateral progress on their [World Trade Organization] disputes."

Xiao confirmed on Tuesday that Australia and China were already discussing whether Australia could drop complaints at the World Trade Organization (WTO) on Chinese tariffs on wine and barley.

The Australia China Business Council (ACBC) welcomed Long's visit, saying that rock lobsters are an important export and cargo revenue source for direct air routes between Perth and China.

"Long-standing ACBC member Geraldton Fisherman's Cooperative pioneered export options that facilitated fresh Western Australian rock lobster being boxed and couriered live to customers in multiple Chinese cities," said Australia China Business Council national president David Olsson.

CEO Matt Rutter said that Geraldton Fisherman's Cooperative had exported 97 per cent of its rock lobsters to China in 2020 by building a "close and deep friendship" with its Chinese partners, according to the official WeChat post on Tuesday.

Andrew Ferguson, managing director at seafood provider Ferguson Australia, said that his company has been trying to diversify to markets like South Korea, Taiwan and the United States since the start of the unofficial ban, but that he "hopes to deal with the Chinese market again".

"There are rumours about lifting the ban, but nothing is confirmed. It's not clear that everything is going to happen," he said, adding that Chinese consumers will not have forgotten the better quality of Australian lobsters even if they have not been able to officially buy the product for almost three years.

In 2019, more than 90 per cent of Australian rock lobsters were exported to China, where the market was worth about A$750 million (US$518 million) a year, according to the Australian agriculture department.

But by November 2020, China's imports of live Australia rock lobsters had fallen to virtually zero, although some are reported to have still bypassed the unofficial ban by being smuggled from Hong Kong.

"Resuming the lobster trade would be a straightforward next step," added Laurenceson.

"The original ban referenced quarantine issues, and this could easily be tweaked by allowing a few shipments to clear customs and Chinese agencies saying they will remain diligent in their quality monitoring."

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Wednesday that he would keep engaging with Beijing after Xiao suggested dropping the formal complaints at the WTO over the official Chinese imports tariffs on barley and wine that have been in place since May 2020 and March 2021, respectively.

The Australia China Business Council said that the removal of trade barriers between Australia and China is "in the interest of both countries".

"The recent resumption of ministerial dialogue provides a much better foundation upon which trade can resume," added Olsson. "We maintain that so much is possible when the dialogue takes place."

Penny Wong became the first Australian foreign minister to visit China since 2018 when she met counterpart Wang Yi in Beijing in mid-December following the meeting between President Xi Jinping and Albanese on the sidelines of the G20 meeting in Bali in November.

This article originally appeared on the South China Morning Post (SCMP).

Copyright (c) 2023. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.