Australian Prime Minister Urges China To Lift 'Unreasonable' Trade Sanctions

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 13th July, 2022) Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Wednesday said that the trade sanctions imposed by China on Australia are groundless and urged Beijing to lift them, as they are disadvantageous for both sides.

"Australia will continue to assert our national interests, which are that those (Chinese) sanctions should be removed and there is no reason why Australia that has a free trade agreement with China should be the subject of trade sanctions on a range of goods," Albanese told ABC Radio.

The minister noted that China needs to acknowledge that there is no justification for the sanctions and it is necessary to remove them.

"We will continue to raise the economic sanctions that are being held against Australian businesses, they are costing jobs in Australia and costing economic growth, but they are also hurting China," he added.

Last week, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on the sidelines of the G20 ministerial summit. During the meeting, Wang came up with a number of initiatives aimed at stabilizing relations between Beijing and Canberra. In particular, the Chinese minister suggested that Australia regards China as "a partner rather than a rival," seek common ground while reserving differences, not target any third party or be under control of third parties, and build positive and pragmatic social foundations and public support.

In 2020, Australia called for an independent probe into the coronavirus outbreak in China. Shortly afterward, China banned beef imports from four large Australian firms, citing safety concerns. Since then, China has imposed a number of trade sanctions against Australia, including on products such as barley, coal and wine.