HONG KONG (Reuters) – Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao will meet his Australian counterpart, Don Farrell, via video “in the near future” following talks between officials at Davos, Chinese state media Xinhua reported on Thursday, citing unnamed sources.
The meeting was agreed by officials from China and Australia during a small World Trade Organization (WTO) ministerial meeting in Davos, Xinhua said.
A spokesperson for Farrell did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Relations between the two countries are improving after years of strained ties with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and President Xi Jinping meeting on the sidelines of the G20 last November.
Several Chinese companies in January received permission to resume purchases of Australian coal after unofficial bans were put in place in 2020.
Relations between the two major trading partners have been strained since China put sanctions on Australian products from coal to wine, and Australia urged an inquiry into the origins of COVID-19 and put a 5G network ban on telecoms giant Huawei.
(Reporting by Brenda Goh, Twinnie Siu and Lewis Jackson; Editing by Toby Chopra and Sandra Maler)
