Anthony Albanese has promised to stand up for Australian wine, lobster and beef exporters when he meets with the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, as early as next month.
The prime minister said in a speech on Monday night that recent progress was “the result of the deliberate, consistent and principled approach we have taken to stabilising the relationship”.
While welcoming Beijing’s decision to scrap hefty tariffs on Australian barley, Albanese said he would press for other trade impediments to be removed.
Albanese said the resumption of the barley trade between the two countries – previously worth $900m a year – was “a huge win for Australian farmers and Australian jobs” but also a win for Chinese consumers.
“And all those points hold true for Australian wine, Australian lobster and some of our beef exporters as well, where there are still trade impediments in place,” he told the Australian Industry Group’s 150th anniversary dinner in Melbourne.
“We want to see these removed, in the best interests of everyone – and I’ll certainly be taking the opportunity to make that point when I next have the chance to meet with President Xi.”
Albanese has previously said he might meet with Xi on the sidelines of the G20 summit in New Delhi in September. He first met Xi at the previous G20 summit in Bali last November.
The prime minister has also said he has been invited to travel to China to meet with Xi, and he wishes to take up the offer, although a date has yet to be locked in.
Australia maintains an active World Trade Organization challenge against China’s tariffs of up to 212% on Australian wine, although it has signalled it is prepared to pause that if China commits to a snap review like it did with barley.
Guardian Australia understands the WTO dispute panel is due to issue its final ruling by the end of October, meaning there are just a few months remaining for Beijing to offer a compromise.
In the speech on Monday, Albanese also welcomed China’s decision to restore Australia to the list of approved outgoing group travel destinations.
He said this would mean “tens of thousands of new holidaymakers visiting Australia, putting millions of dollars into our economy”.
Albanese said his government would continue to adopt a China strategy of “looking to cooperate where we can, being prepared to disagree where we must – and always engaging in our national interest”.
In broader remarks, Albanese said the government wanted to “make Australian firms the providers of choice to some of the fastest-growing economies in the world”.
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He said one in four Australian jobs depended on trade “and that’s only going to increase in the years ahead”.
“We can supply the resources and renewable energy and technology that will help rapidly growing economies like India and Indonesia deliver on their commitments to net zero,” he said.
Albanese called for “diversity and ambition” not only in Australia’s trading partners but also in what the country traded.
Australia should move “up the international value chain” by adding more value before products were exported, he said.
The Australian government insists the prime minister’s travel to China should not be seen as “transactional”, amid calls for him to make it conditional on removing trade sanctions and releasing detained Australians Cheng Lei and Yang Hengjun.
But the government has hinted that it is working behind the scenes to try to secure tangible progress from China on a range of remaining areas of disagreement.
The assistant minister for foreign affairs, Tim Watts, told Sky News on Monday that the government would want the trip to occur “in the most positive circumstance”.
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