Beijing: A Chinese ban on Australian beef exports has been lifted, resolving one of the year's major friction points in the Australia-China trading relationship.
Trade Minister Steven Ciobo says the federal government has been notified that six Australian beef exporters, who made up a third of Australia's beef trade to China, can resume exporting.
Mr Ciobo had raised China's suspension of exports from the beef processors during a series of meetings in Beijing last month.
The suspension by Chinese customs and quarantine regulators in July was blamed on labelling concerns.
Australian trade officials said the issue had been resolved relatively quickly. In contrast, it had taken Germany five months to resolve a similar ban on pork over mislabelling, while Canada took 18 months to recover from a ban on pork imports, where there was concern over additives.
Australia's beef exports to China were worth more $670 million last year, making it Australia's fourth-largest market. The ban had coincided with the entry of US beef to China.
Mr Ciobo said: "This is terrific news for the six affected facilities, great news for their workers and suppliers."
He said he appreciated the "constructive engagement with the Chinese authorities".
The problem had been non-compliance with labelling regulations, but Mr Ciobo said it had been "resolved very quickly".
