China Australian wine ban offer to follow barley tariff route

The same proposal led to China dropping its Australian barley ban after a four-month internal review of its tariff.

Trade Minister Don Farrell said the government had an expectation that wine would follow the same process, which he was hoping would begin "as quickly as possible".

"I believe that [barley] is a template to deal with the issue of wine.... I've said that right from the time we decided to suspend the barley dispute at the WTO," Senator Farrell said.

"So, we'll be seeking to have some further discussions with my Chinese counterpart to see how quickly we can make progress on the issue of wine tariffs."

Agriculture Minister Murray Watt sang from the same hymn sheet, and said wine was next on the government Australia-China relationship agenda.

"We definitely see this as a template for how we would like to resolve the issues that remain for wine," Senator Watt said.

"We've always said that we would much prefer to resolve these sorts of trade disputes through dialogue - that's managed to occur with barley, we'd certainly like to see that happen with wine."

Australian Grape & Wine chief executive Lee McLean said his industry had been watching the barley process closely and although there was no tangible change for wine producers, the result was a step forward for the nation's vineyards.

"Barley was always a little bit ahead of us in the queue at the WTO, so it makes sense that barley was addressed first, but wine is the next logical step," Mr McLean said.

It's understood the WTO's interim report regarding the wine tariff, which is due in October, could be the trigger for China to accept Australia's offer to pause court case in exchange for an internal review.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has accepted an invitation to China for a face-to-face meeting with his counterpart Xi Jinping, however the timing is yet to be determined.

"It would be a really positive sign if the Prime Minister can meet with President Jinping in China, that sort of meeting would be a great sign for wine and put us in a much better place," Mr McLean said.

The Chinese market has shifted while the tariff has been in place, with French and Chilean wine filling the void left by Australian wine. But demand is still high.

"The reputation of Australian wine is still pretty strong, Chinese consumers enjoy Australian wine and they want more of it," Mr McLean said.

"Australian wine is really well known for its high-quality full-bodied reds, which has really struck a chord with Chinese consumers. They love those bolder flavours and richer reds."

Wine remains the last major Chinese trade hurdle, however there are still multiple Australian abattoirs suspended from exporting due to technique breaches.