Sydney –

China’s high tariffs on Australian wine may be lifted within weeks, an interim statement from Chinese authorities said, saying the duties were no longer needed.

At the height of diplomatic friction between Australia and its biggest trading partner, Beijing imposed a 220% tax on Australian bottles of wine.

Chinese authorities say Australia is guilty of anti-competitive behaviour, but analysts see China’s economic measures as punitive.

Australian wine exports to China have dropped from a peak of more than A$662 million to just A$6.6 million last year.

Last October, Beijing agreed to review the tariffs. The decision comes after the previous Conservative government in Canberra referred the tax issue to the World Trade Organization in late 2021.

China’s Ministry of Commerce has now proposed lifting the tariffs in a “draft interim decision.”

China said on Thursday that Foreign Minister Wang Yi would visit Australia for the first time in seven years. He is due to hold talks with Australian Foreign Minister Wong Ying-yin in Canberra next Wednesday.

Wang Yi’s visit was welcomed by Australian Prime Minister Albanese. He told reporters on Thursday that “significant progress” had been made in removing barriers to trade.

Australia’s Labor government, elected in May 2022, seeks to ease tensions with China over issues such as human rights, democracy in Hong Kong and Taiwan and the origins of COVID-19.

China has lifted restrictions on Australian barley, beef, coal and cotton.

Mitchell Taylor, managing director of Taylor Wines of South Australia, told the ABC on Thursday he hoped the wine tariffs would end soon.

“We are cautiously optimistic,” he said. “This is fantastic news and I must say that our trade minister, Don Farrell, has done a great job re-establishing trading relationships with our largest trading partners. But at the same time, our market share is being lost to France and Chile The winemakers took it away.”

China is by far Australia’s largest trading partner, accounting for almost one-third of Australia’s total global trade.

Earlier this month, a government-backed taskforce in Canberra was announced to help the Australian wine industry, which has suffered from Chinese tariffs and an international red wine glut.