China may lift Australian lobster import ban, SCMP says

China’s unofficial ban on imports of live Australian lobster will likely be lifted as relations between the two nations continue to warm, the South China Morning Post reported, citing a person with knowledge of the matter. 

Chinese Premier Li Qiang is expected to visit Australia in June, following Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s trip to Australia in March, according to the report. 

The move would mark a further easing of the relationship between the two nations, which deteriorated after then-Prime Minister Scott Morrison called for an international probe into the origins of Covid-19 in 2020. China last month scrapped its punitive tariffs on Australian wine, signaling an end to a three-year campaign of trade pressure on Canberra and raising hopes for a revival of that billion-dollar industry. 

The Australian and Chinese governments didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

“Any dialog that is heading toward lifting the bans of live exports would be welcomed,” said Veronica Papacosta, chief executive officer of Seafood Industry Australia. 

China accounted for around 91% of Australian rock lobster exports in 2018–19, which plunged to just 2% by 2022. Exports have since been directed to other markets including Taiwan and Hong Kong. The nation still has restrictions on eight Australia abattoirs, affecting at least a quarter of the beef trade with China, Vaughn Barber, the chair of AustCham China, said last month. The industry has no information about when those bans might be lifted, he said.