Australia has reiterated the importance of stabilising relations with China after a rocky past few years by discussing a wide range of issues during a "significant" meeting with the most senior official from China's Foreign Affairs Ministry on Wednesday.
Ma Zhaoxu, the Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs and a former ambassador to Australia, met with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) secretary Jan Adams in Canberra to discuss topics the two countries rarely see eye-to-eye on, including human rights and strategic competition.
"The talks covered a range of bilateral and international topics, including trade, consular, human rights, strategic competition, and Russia's invasion of Ukraine," DFAT said in a statement.
"Secretary Adams reiterated that it was in the shared interests of Australia and China to continue on the path of stabilising the bilateral relationship."
James Laurenceson, director of the Australia-China Relations Institute at the University of Technology Sydney, said it was promising to see the two sides discussing a diverse and often contentious range of topics.
"There can be no doubt it's significant. I mean, this is the highest level Chinese official to visit Australia in more than six years. I think that that tells you quite a lot," he said.
"The fact that the talks occurred at the level of senior officials, rather than political leaders, has significance because it's the officials that are tasked with the nuts and bolts of resolving some of the challenges."
Barley decision gives hope to winemakers
Wednesday's talks followed a decision on Tuesday by the Australian government to suspend its appeal to the World Trade Organization over Chinese government tariffs of 80 per cent on Australian barley.
The tariffs had a dramatic impact on the industry, which is worth up to $1.5 billion a year.
Professor Laurenceson said this was "smart diplomacy in Canberra".
"They're very clearly giving Beijing a face-saving off-ramp to quietly remove their tariffs on Australian barley," he said.
Nikki Palun, from Sussuro Wines, said the potential end of tariffs on barley exports had given winemakers cause for hope.
China imposed tariffs on Australian wine three years ago, claiming winemakers were dumping the product in the Chinese market, which the industry vehemently denied.
The value of the Chinese wine market was $1.2 billion.
Ms Palun, a fluent Mandarin speaker, said it made sense for her business to target the Chinese market, which made up 95 per cent of her sales.
"Although we can absorb some of the wine here in the domestic market, nothing can replace the Chinese market," she said.
"We're very cautiously optimistic these very positive early negotiations will bode well for the industry.
"We've been making a lot of petitions to the Chinese government, we've been working very closely with DFAT and the Australian federal government as well to improve those bilateral relations."
Lowering the temperature
The bilateral talks were the first at this level since February 2019.
China and Australia agreed to maintain "high-level contact and commence or re-start dialogue in a range of areas" in December last year, after a diplomatic freeze and trade tensions.
Professor Laurenceson said he expected Australia's trade minister would visit soon, paving the way for Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to visit China later in the year.
Chinese President Xi Jinping met with Mr Albanese on the sidelines of the G20 in Bali last year.
"One of the real strengths of the bilateral relationship at the moment is that both sides are engaging with realistic expectations," Professor Laurenceson said.
He said Foreign Minister Penny Wong offered to brief Chinese officials prior to an AUKUS nuclear-powered submarine announcement and there was "no effort to poke Beijing in the eye".
China has accused the AUKUS pact of fuelling an arms race in the region.
"In today's outcome, again, you've just got a very calm, level-headed statement on the topics that were covered. It's not reaching for headlines, and frankly, that's a very good thing," Professor Laurenceson said.
The Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security chair Pete Khalil said Senator Wong was seeking to stabilise ties with China.
"I think there are some really good signs at the reduction in the temperature and the tension in the relationship," he told Afternoon Briefing.
"But I will say this, the prime minister, the foreign minister, have been very clear that in engaging with their counterparts they are not resiling from our values.
"They've raised issues around human rights, around trade, around consular issues, which are important for Australians and Australia's national interests."
