China - Australia relations degrade further! Beijing suspends economic dialogue with Canberra

Canberra, May 6: China indefinitely suspended all activity under a China-Australia Strategic Economic Dialogue on Thursday, its state economic planner said. The decision comes as the latest setback for strained relations between the two countries.

 

 

 

China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said in a short statement on the decision, "Recently, some Australian Commonwealth Govt officials launched a series of measures to disrupt the normal exchanges and cooperation between China and Australia out of Cold War mindset and ideological discrimination."

 

 

 

 

The commission did not say in the statement what specific measures prompted the action. Bilateral ties were strained in 2018 when Australia became the first country to publicly ban Chinese tech giant Huawei from its 5G network. Relations worsened last year when Australia called for an independent investigation into the origins of the novel coronavirus, prompting trade reprisals from China.

 

Australian Trade Minister Dan Tehan said the decision by the commission was "disappointing" because the economic dialogue was "an important forum for Australia and China to work through issues relevant to our economic partnership". "We remain open to holding the dialogue and engaging at the ministerial level," he said in a statement.