ABC News and AAP News reported on the 9th that two cargo ships loaded with coal shipped from Australia, where China is in political conflict, have arrived in China.
According to the media, the cargo has started offloading from China two years after China unofficially banned Australian coal imports as a trade retaliatory measure.
Ship-tracking data showed that several more cargo ships loaded with Australian coal were due to enter Chinese ports soon.
Sources knowledgeable about the situation stressed that China is monitoring whether customs procedures for Australian coal will proceed smoothly in the future.
The Chinese government last month eased some of Australia’s import restrictions, allowing four state-owned enterprises to import Australian coal.
In response, Datang Group, Huaneng Group, power generation companies belonging to the State Neungwon Investment Group, and Baogang, the largest steelmaker, ordered coal from Australia.
Australia was the second largest supplier of coal to China, but exports to China were close to zero in 2021-2022.
In the meantime, it is said that while China introduced coal from Indonesia and Russia, Japan, India and Europe increased coal imports from Australia.
Trade sanctions, such as China’s imposition of tariffs on Australia, have taken a toll on companies related to key export items such as Australian wine, oats, lobster, beef and coal. 338.3 billion).
Anthony Albanage, who took office as prime minister in May last year, had a summit meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Bali, Indonesia in November and promised to improve bilateral relations.
Afterwards, the foreign ministers of the two countries met to discuss normalization measures, including the lifting of the embargo and economic sanctions.
On the 6th, the trade ministers of China and Australia agreed to hold their first face-to-face talks in Beijing soon.
The Ministry of Commerce of China stressed that the meeting of the trade ministers of the two countries is an important first step to get the bilateral economic and trade relations back on track, and declared that “China intends to reactivate the economic and trade consultation mechanism with Australia.”
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.