MELBOURNE (Australia): There are talks underway to host a high-level meeting of Chinese foreign minister in Australia.
Australia Foreign Minister Penny Wong in her interview on a TV channel on Sunday stated that authorities are looking at when to take action and hoped that negotiations will take place in Australia soon.
Australian Trade Minister Don Farrell visited China three months ago, while Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is expected to visit China but the date has not been determined yet.
China in her gesture lifted the import duty on Australian barley early this month, a move seen as a new sign of improving relations between the two countries.
Beijing filed charges in May 2020 accusing Australian exporters of dumping them into the Chinese market. The move of then-Prime Minister Scott Morrison called for an international investigation into the origin of Covid-19, and relations between the two sides frayed.
Beijing has also banned the import of other Australian products. Despite the improvement in relations between the two countries, they still face many problems.
Ms Wong said the Australian government was “deeply concerned” about the two Australian citizens imprisoned in China – journalist Cheng Lei and writer Yang Hengjun.
Ms Huang said in an interview that she would like to see more talks between the foreign leaders of the two countries. Senior Chinese diplomat Wang Yi returned as foreign minister just seven months after his predecessor, Qin Gang, took office for unknown reasons.
