China lifts ban on Australian timber imports in another sign of improving bilateral relations

By ROD McGUIRK
Associated Press

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — China has opened its doors to Australian timber imports for the first time in more than two years, in another sign that the tattered bilateral relationship is being repaired. Chinese Ambassador to Australia Xiao Qian said the timber ban had been lifted from Thursday because Australian exporters had satisfied China’s quarantine concerns. Timber was on a list of Australian exports subjected to official and unofficial Chinese trade barriers imposed in 2020 after Australia called for an independent inquiry into the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic. The list that included coal, wine, barley, beef, seafood, cotton and copper was estimated to cost Australian exporters $14 billion a year.