China drops final trade blocks as beef back on the menu

China has dropped trade barriers for two Australian abattoirs, the final restrictions of a years-long dispute that impacted $20 billion of exports. Beijing gave the green light on Tuesday, having agreed to lift a ban on Australian rock lobster imports almost two months ago. Ten abattoirs were hit with bans that were slowly rolled back as the frosty relationship thawed. China expert Ben Herscovitch warned against celebrating too early, saying it was premature to call it the end of Beijing's economic coercion campaign. "The news of the beef is good for Australian exports but Australia is not yet in the all clear," he told AAP. "It's positive and significant but red meat exports were able to export to other markets," he said, adding that the value of red meat exports to China during the coercion campaign still went up. Australian beef and veal exports have also been boosted in recent years because of strong demand from the United States, Japan and South Korea. Australian red meat exports are expected to hit a record-breaking $13.9 billion in 2024/25, up 12 per cent from the previous record set the year before. China is the largest market for mutton and there was $3.1 billion of red meat exports in 2023/24 as the suspensions on eight Australian meat export facilities were lifted. The lifting of the ban on the final two abattoirs came two weeks after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese met Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of a major economic summit. Trade Minister Don Farrell insists the timeline for lobsters to be introduced back into the Chinese market in coming weeks remains on track after assurances from his counterpart. China's ambassador to Australia Xiao Qian also indicated the agreed timeline was on track so lobster would be in markets by Chinese New Year at the end of January. But Dr Herscovitch warned against it being considered a done deal, saying no lobsters had left Australia yet. Australian agriculture officials are meeting with counterparts in Beijing on Tuesday after extra requirements were put on the rock lobster trade. Australian barley, wheat, wine, timber, beef and lobster were among trade barriers imposed by China as the bilateral relationship soured in 2020 after the then-Liberal government called for an inquiry into the origins of COVID-19. In turn, Australia imposed duties on Chinese steel products including wind towers, railway wheels and stainless steel sinks. The federal government has been working to diversify away from China since then, with a pivot towards Southeast Asia, India and the Middle East.