China will lift 4-year ban on Australian lobster imports, Australia's prime minister says

MELBOURNE, Australia — China will resume importing Australian live lobsters by the end of the year, removing the final major obstacle to bilateral trade that once cost Australian exporters more than 20 billion Australian dollars ($13 billion) a year, Australia’s prime minister said Thursday.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese made the announcement after meeting Premier Li Qiang on the sidelines of a Southeast Asian summit in Vientiane, Laos.

The ban on lobsters was the last of a series of official and unofficial trade barriers that Beijing has agreed to lift since Albanese’s center-left Labor Party government was elected in 2022.

“I’m pleased to announce that Premier Li and I have agreed on a timetable to resume full lobster trade by the end of this year,” Albanese told reporters.

“This of course will be in time for Chinese New Year and this will be welcomed by the people engaged in the live lobster industry,” he added.

Albanese has given assurances that relations with China have been improved without compromising Australian interests. Beijing is unhappy with restrictions Australia has placed on some Chinese investments because of security concerns.

“What’s important is that friends are able to have direct discussions. It doesn’t imply agreement, it doesn’t imply compliance and I’ll always represent Australia’s national interest. That’s what I did today; it was a very constructive meeting,” Albanese said.

“I’m encouraged by the progress that we have made between Australia and China’s relationship in producing stabilization to the benefit of both of our nations and with the objective of advancing peace and security in the region,” Albanese added.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning referred questions about Australian lobsters to trade authorities. “China stands ready to work with Australia to continue properly resolving issues of each other’s concerns through dialogue and consultation, so as to build more mature and stable bilateral relations for the benefit of the two peoples,” Mao said at a regular media briefing in Beijing.

Australian lobster exports to China had been worth AU$700 million ($470 million) in 2019.

Beijing ended trade with Australia in 2020 on a range of commodities including lobster, coal, wine, barley, beef and wood as diplomatic relations plumbed new depths.

Conservative Prime Minister Scott Morrison had angered Beijing that year by demanding an independent investigation into the origins of and responses to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Tom Ryan, a manager at lobster exporter Five Star Seafoods at Port MacDonnell in South Australia state, said he was disappointed that his trade would be the last to resume with China.

“It’s been a long time coming," Ryan told Australian Broadcasting Corp. of Albanese's announcement.

"Between myself and other people in Port MacDonnell, it’s an absolute relief,” he added.

The industry had found new markets for lobster products but at lower profit margins, Ryan said.

Li said during a state visit to Australia in June that he had agreed with Albanese to “properly manage” their nations' differences.

Beijing had severed minister-to-minister contacts during the conservatives' nine years in power.