Shu Jueting, spokesperson of China's Ministry of Commerce Photo: Tao Mingyang/GT

China is ready to work with Australia in implementing the important consensuses reached by the two nations' leaders, and help boost high-quality development of bilateral relationship and economic cooperation, Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) said on Thursday. 

MOFCOM spokesperson Shu Jueting made the remarks during a regular press conference on Thursday in response to media's question about whether China and Australia can address the rest of their bilateral trade disputes by the end of 2023. 

"Since the beginning of this year, the economic and trade authorities of China and Australia have maintained close communication to explore mutually beneficial solutions on the proper handling of each other's economic and trade concerns," Shu said. 

Shu stated that with the joint efforts of the both sides, China and Australia have made progress on a range of economic and trade issues, such as reaching a consensus on the appropriate settlement of trade disputes under the WTO framework.

"As long as China and Australia move forward in the right direction, the two countries will be able to properly address their trade and economic concerns and foster good economic and trade relations," Shu noted. 

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese visited China in early November. China resumed imports of Australian barley in October. Analysts said that the barley imports can be seen as an important signal of the recovery of China-Australia trade relations.

Shu emphasized that China is ready to work with Australia to focus on long-term development of bilateral relationship and expand common interest, further promote bilateral high-quality cooperation.

The 2023 China Clothing Textile Accessories Expo closed in Melbourne on Thursday, attended by 453 textile enterprises from 15 Chinese provinces.

Global Times