Adds details, background
BEIJING, Dec 29 (Reuters) - China has raised the import quota for Australian wool in 2022 from the previous year, the commerce ministry said on Wednesday, in line with the terms of a bilateral trade pact.
The move came after Beijing increased import quotas for Australian wool in 2021, even as souring relations between the two countries affected shipments of several major Australian commodities including barley and coal.
China set its 2022 import quota for Australian wool at 40,203 tonnes, up 5% from 38,288 tonnes a year earlier, according to a statement on the Ministry of Commerce website.
China grants duty-free treatment to Australian wool up to the quota level, which increases by 5% every year until 2024, under a bilateral free-trade agreement signed in 2015.
The import quota for wool and wool tops from New Zealand in 2022 was set at 369,36 tonnes and 665 tonnes respectively, unchanged from 2021, according to the statement.
Chinese wool firms were seeking to expand sources for wool imports to cut reliance on Australian shipments, state media outlet Global Times reported in March.
(Reporting by Hallie Gu and Emily Chow; Editing by Richard Pullin)
((Hallie.Gu@thomsonreuters.com; +86 10 56692120; Reuters Messaging: hallie.gu.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))
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