VIENTIANE, Oct 10: China will lift sanctions on the lucrative trade in Australian lobster, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Thursday, heralding the end of a years-long politically charged spat between the two countries.
After meeting Chinese Premier Li Qiang in Laos, Albanese said both had agreed to a "timetable to resume full lobster trade by the end of this year".
Since 2017, Beijing has slapped levies on almost US$15 billion worth of Australian exports, from wine to lobsters to timber.
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After years of efforts to improve relations, the lobster trade -- worth almost half a billion US dollars a year -- is one of the last Australian exports to remain under Chinese sanctions.
China denied a raft of punitive tariffs were politically motivated.
But the measures coincided with an Australian crackdown on Chinese influence operations, a decision to block Huawei from running Australia's 5G network, and Canberra's barbed call for an investigation into the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The decision comes as Beijing faces deepening trade wars with Europe and the United States, which have slapped punitive tariffs on China's electric vehicle exports, semiconductors, solar panels and a range of other goods.
Thursday's announcement is a significant political win for Albanese, as he eyes a reelection in early 2025.
The centre-left leader has spent much of his two-plus years in office trying to isolate the vital trade relationship with Beijing from still-unresolved political differences over rights and the rule of law.
It is also a win for Australia's lobster exporters, most of whom are based in Western Australia, a key electoral battleground.
Albanese said the sanctions would be lifted in time for the Chinese New Year, when luxury goods like lobster are in hot demand.
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