China lifts bar on Australian red meat exporters

China on Tuesday lifted suspensions targeting three of Australia’s biggest red meat exporters, winning praise from Canberra as the trading partners mend a strained relationship.

Many of Australia’s most lucrative export commodities were effectively banned from China as the two countries fought a bitter diplomatic dispute between 2020 and 2022.

But as relations have improved over the last year, China has dropped tariffs on Australian barley, halted an import ban on timber, and resumed shipments of coal.

Australian officials confirmed on Tuesday that suspensions had also been lifted on three major red meat abattoirs.

“This is very welcome news for Australian farmers and meat processors,” Minister for Agriculture Murray Watt said in a statement.

“As our biggest trading partner, the normalisation of trade with China has been a win for our agricultural sector.”

Trade minister Don Farrell said it was “another positive step towards the stabilisation of our relationship with China”.

Livestock industry groups have estimated hundreds of millions of dollars worth of trade with China were lost because of the suspensions.

The decision will impact Australian-based abattoirs linked to Brazilian meat processing giants JBS and Minerva Foods, AFP understands.

Despite the breakthrough, the Australian Meat Industry Council said a number of processing plants were still in limbo.

“We will continue to advocate strongly for all remaining suspended plants to also regain access to China as a matter of priority,” council chief executive Patrick Hutchinson said.

“We hope this represents a restabilisation of the trade in meat to China which will also allow for a process and pathway for new access to the market.”

Recent economic data released by Beijing suggest the country’s post-Covid recovery is losing steam.

With economic growth slowing, China has been under pressure to repair strained relationships with trading partners such as Australia. (BSS/AFP)