The first Australian coal shipment to China in over two years neared delivery on Thursday, according to shipping data and media reports, as tensions between the two Pacific powers show signs of easing.
Once close trading partners, Beijing and Canberra have butted heads in recent years over issues including Chinese influence operations overseas, crackdowns in Xinjiang and Hong Kong, and the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Those political tensions spilt into the economic arena, with China quietly sanctioning a range of Australian goods — including coal — and imposing a freeze on high-level contact in 2020.
But ties have warmed since Prime Minister Anthony Albanese took office last year, and Foreign Minister Penny Wong became Canberra’s first top diplomat to visit Beijing in four years in December.
According to shipping data platform MarineTraffic, a vessel called the Magic Eclipse was anchored off the coast of the southern Chinese city of Zhanjiang on Thursday, after departing last month from Hay Point in Australia’s Queensland state.
The bulk carrier is loaded with a consignment of coking coal — used primarily for steelmaking — for the Chinese market, Bloomberg News reported.
China’s state-run Global Times newspaper, which is not considered an official mouthpiece, reported the coal would be delivered to a local production facility operated by Baosteel, the world’s largest steel producer.
A person who answered a phone call to Baosteel on Thursday told AFP they were not familiar with the situation.
An Australian government spokesperson told AFP that Canberra “is aware of reports that Australian coal shipments were due to arrive at a port in China”.
“The shipment still needs to clear customs,” the person said.
In a separate statement, Canberra’s Trade Minister Don Farrell said “any step towards resolving the trade impediments would be welcome”.
China’s commerce ministry said Thursday that Beijing was “willing to work together with Australia to create a good environment for bilateral trade and investment… and stabilise their expectations for future cooperation”.
But it again denied that China had sanctioned Australian imports, with spokeswoman Shu Jueting calling the actions “inspections and quarantines” and “trade relief measures” in line with Chinese laws and WTO rules.
“It is inappropriate to misinterpret them as restrictive measures,” Shu said.
“We also hope that Australia will work with China to provide a fair, open and non-discriminatory business environment for investment by Chinese companies,” she added.
Beijing’s commerce minister Wang Wentao invited Farrell to visit China during a video meeting this week, and the two sides were “in communication about the specific arrangements”, Shu said.
Farrell previously said he had discussed the eventual “full resumption of trade” with Wang during the meeting, which represented an “important step in the stabilisation of Australia’s relations with China”.
Wong’s December meeting with Chinese counterpart Wang Yi was billed by Beijing as an opportunity to bring China-Australia relations “back on track”.
Wong said after the meeting that Canberra would continue to raise sensitive political issues with Beijing, including human rights and the fate of two Australians who have been imprisoned for years by Chinese authorities.
