At a press conference, China's Ambassador to Australia, Xiao Qian, announced that China had eased restrictions on Australian timber imports, and also discussed China's CPTPP entry and concerns about Chinese surveillance.

Last week, Australian Trade Minister Don Farrell traveled to China and met with his Chinese counterpart, Commerce Minister Wang Wentao, as part of the continued effort to ease tensions in Australia-China trade and foreign relations.

Following up on a virtual meeting with his Chinese counterparts in February, and an invitation issued then to meet in person in China, Australian Trade Minister Don Farrell announced today that he was visiting China to discuss various trade issues with his Chinese counterparts.

China's Ministry of Commerce announced last Friday that it was starting a review of the anti-dumping and countervailing duties current being imposed on Australian barley. This will kick off a domestic process that could potentially resolve a dispute between Australia and China, helping to ease the tensions in their bilateral

The Chinese government has agreed to an expedited review of the anti-dumping/countervailing duties it has been imposing on Australian barley, leading to a suspension of the WTO dispute on these duties.

With several trade meetings having now taken place, and additional high level ones on the horizon, China and Australia continue to make progress on improving their trade relations, even in the face of political hurdles such as an Australian security agreement with the U.S. and the UK, and new

Media reports suggest that there has been a "snag" in the Australia-China trade discussions taking place right now -- although they "are still going on" -- after China objected to the Australian government's "ban on the proposed Singapore/Chinese investment in an Australian lithium project."