Anthony Albanese is the first Australian Prime Minister in six years to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping and from the looks of their brief meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Bali on Tuesday, there’s a glimmer of optimism that the strained ties between these two countries may begin to improve.
Bilateral relations plummeted when Australia blocked Huawei from its 5G network and called for an independent investigation into the origin of COVID-19 , among other issues. China, in turn, imposed unilateral sanctions on Australian goods, including beef, wine, seafood, wood, and coal worth around $13 billion a year.
While those sanctions have hurt Australian exporters, they’ve been a boon to other countries, including South Africa and Zimbabwe, to whom Chinese buyers turned to make up for what they once bought Down Under.
Should China make amends with Australia and relax the various import restrictions on Australian goods, it’s quite likely that would adversely impact Chinese demand for the goods now sourced from SA and other developing countries.
Australia is a formidable competitor for developing countries given its abundant resources that allow the Chinese to buy at a scale they can’t replicate with most other countries.
SUGGESTED READING:
- Associated Press: Australian PM raises trade ‘blockages’ with China’s Xi by Niniek Karmini
- Australian Financial Review: Xi: China-Australia ties deserve to be cherished by Phillip Coorey
