Nation's look to diversify trade from China in new deals: Trade Minister Don Farrell

Senator Don Farrell will meet with the Trade Ministers of several countries over the coming weeks, and said Australia was not the only country looking to diversify from China.

"[Nation's] now realise what we realised, we've had all our eggs in this China basket for too long," Senator Farrell said.

"They know they've got to broaden the number of countries they trade with, and Australia is a safe and reliable supplier."

Although countries around the world are wary of China, Australia's own relationships with the superpower are defrosting.

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The World Trade Organisation recently heard Australia's case against China's barley tariff and a verdict expected towards the end of the year.

Both countries have openly declared they're to appeal the decision should it not go in their favour, however the Chinese ambassador indicated China was prepared to have "bilateral discussion" about the issue.

Meanwhile, the two countries' defence and foreign ministers have met, while Senator Farrell received a "warm letter" from his counterpart.

"I've written back to him making it clear that we are happy to meet at any stage to discuss bilateral issues between our two countries," he said.

"Obviously tensions have increased over Taiwan. That makes it more difficult, but I'm an optimist, you've got to be in this game. I'm hopeful that we'll return to a mature and respectful relationship with China."

This week, Senator Farrell will meet his United Kingdom counterpart in Adelaide, then travel to India for negotiations with the nation's trade minister.

India has long been considered a golden goose that Australia has been trying to secure a free-trade deal with for decades. An interim FTA has been secured, but a full deal remains a challenge.

"They're protective of their agricultural industry, but we think both countries could benefit from free trade," Senator Farrell said.

"It'll be up to us to convince them that there's merit in opening up their system and that they can protect their farmers in other ways."

In mid-September, the Trade Minister will sit down with the European Union trade delegation in Brussels and in November he'll meet with dozens of trade minister's G20 Summit in Indonesia.

EU FTA trade negotiations stalled under the last government due to its climate policy and the cancellation of a multi-billion dollar submarine deal with France.

Senator Farrell said with the change of government and a $830m reparations payment to France, both parties were ready to continue haggling.

"A lot of work has been done sort of behind the scenes by our negotiators," he said.

Geographical indicators will remain a point of contention. The EU wants to prevent products using particular names, such as feta cheese, if they weren't produced in the corresponding region.

New Zealand recently ceded 2200 geographical indicators to the EU in its new FTA.

"To some extent, we're in the hands of the Europeans, if they play hardball then you know the problem gets more difficult," Senator Farrell said.

"Obviously, we want greater access for our agricultural products... and the Europeans all have a list of items they want. You hope that there's enough for both sides to be able to say, look, we've got a deal."

Australia is still yet to ratify the UK and interim-Indian FTAs and Senator Farrell hopes they'll be implemented by the end of the year.

"We obviously want to get cracking with it," he said.

"The big trick with these things is not to get the agreement - that's really good, but you've actually got to get the benefits of it via greater trade.

"We want to make sure we're actually getting the benefits in a practical sense - more wine, wheat and beef sales."