China lifts final trade restrictions on Australian meat processors

China has lifted trade restrictions on two Australian meat processing facilities, allowing the full resumption of red meat exports to the country, Reuters reported, citing the Australian government on Tuesday. Beijing has now removed restrictions from all 10 Australian abattoirs it banned between 2020 and 2022. The bans were imposed around the time that China blocked imports of commodities including coal, barley and wine from Australia after Canberra called for an independent investigation into the origin of COVID-19. Almost all those restrictions have been removed since a new government won power in Canberra in 2022, with trade in lobster, the final banned product, set to restart by year-end. "This is great news for Australian exporters, producers and farmers," Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said in a statement. "Since we were elected we've worked tirelessly to resume trade and that's exactly what we are seeing. It's a win for trade and a win for Australian jobs." China is the ...