SYDNEY (Reuters) – Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi will visit Australia next week, the Guardian reported on Thursday, amid a thaw in ties between Beijing and Canberra after years of tensions.
The report comes as the Anthony Albanese-led Labor government tries to patch up ties with China, Australia’s largest trading partner, since coming to office in 2022.
Australia’s top publicly listed winemaker Treasury Wine Estates on Tuesday said China’s Ministry of Commerce has released an interim proposal to remove tariffs on Australian wine, raising hopes nearly three years of duties would soon end.
China has been lifting most trade blocks imposed after Australia called for an inquiry into the origins of COVID-19 in 2020.
Wang will hold talks with Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong in Canberra next Wednesday as part of the Australia-China Foreign and Strategic Dialogue, the Guardian reported, without citing any source.
Wong’s office did not immediately respond to a request seeking comment.
Wong is expected to raise human rights, regional security and will push for the removal of the remaining trade impediments in her meeting with Wang, the Guardian reported.
(Reporting by Renju Jose in Sydney; Editing by Stephen Coates)
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