Australia's trade minister pushes China to lift trade sanctions, lobbies for jailed writer

Trade Minister Don Farrell lobbied his Chinese counterpart to lift restrictions on Australian lobster, wine and meat exports when the pair met overnight in the Middle East.

Farrell and Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao held talks on the sidelines of a World Trade Organisation ministerial conference in Abu Dhabi.

Last November, China and Australia announced moves to lift duties on wine shipments.

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Under a deal, China agreed to launch a five-month review into the tariffs, if Australia suspends its WTO challenge, pending the outcome of the review.

The Chinese review is due to be finalised on March 31.

The Chinese export market was worth $1.2 billion but winemakers are now exporting less than $10 million worth of wine a year, due to import duties of 218 per cent imposed on Australian wine in August 2020,

Australia has pledged to renew its WTO action if the duties are not lifted next month.

Under the former Coalition government, Beijing levied official tariffs and unofficial trade barriers estimated to have cost Australian exporters up to $20 billion a year for commodities such as coal, wine, beef, barley and lobsters.

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But China has been gradually unwinding the sanctions as the diplomatic relationship returns to steadier ground.

Farrell also raised the case of detained Australian pro-democracy writer Yang Henjun who was handed a suspended death sentence by a Chinese court earlier this month.

His meeting with Wang was the first ministerial contact between the two countries since the verdict.

Yang was detained in January 2019 on espionage charges after arriving in Guangzhou from New York with his stepdaughter and wife. He has consistently denied the charges.

The federal government will continue to advocate for Yang.