Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is confident “positive” talks between Australian and Chinese ministers on removing trade sanctions will lead to progress.

Trade Minister Don Farrell recently returned from Beijing where he held talks with his Chinese counterpart Wang Wentao on a possible end to restrictions on billions of dollars of Australian export products such as barley, wine and lobster.

While the sanctions are yet to have been removed, Mr Albanese said the talks had “gone somewhere”.

“Where it’s gone is with dialogue. The first step towards getting understanding and getting agreements is to have dialogue,” he told Adelaide radio 5AA on Monday.

“It is a very positive thing that our Trade Minister Don Farrell … was up there spruiking the benefit, which is a mutual benefit for Australia and China, of removing any impediments.”

Mr Albanese said the in-person talks represented a positive step forward, given the years-long diplomatic freeze that began under the previous coalition government.

“Trade with China is worth more than the trade combined with the United States, Japan and South Korea. They are an important relationship for us,” he said.

“We are working cooperatively wherever we can, we will disagree where we must but we are engaging in our national interest.”

Senator Farrell said it would take time for trade relations to return to normal.

“My objective in this process is to simply persevere and persist so that at the end of the day all of the trade impediments are removed,” he told ABC Radio on Monday.

“The problems aren’t solved overnight … we want Australian food and wine producers to get their products back into China and we want the Chinese consumers to have the advantage of the wonderful Australian product.”

In a sign of improving relations between the two countries, China’s Foreign Minister Qin Gang is set to visit Australia in the coming months.

While the trip has yet to be formally announced by Beijing, it is expected to happen in July.

Senator Farrell described talks with China during his visit as an important step forward to stabilising the relationship, although was unlikely trade restrictions would disappear immediately.

“This was the first in-person meeting between the Australian and the Chinese trade ministers since 2019, and I thought it was a pretty warm and constructive and, frankly, a candid discussion,” he said.

“If things go to plan, there’ll be a decision by the Chinese government. We’re hopeful that that decision will remove those tariffs.”

Opposition trade spokesman Kevin Hogan said it was disappointing the trip had not yet resulted in the removal of sanctions, but acknowledged it was a positive move towards mending relations with a key trading partner.

“I publicly supported the trade minister’s visit to China as a positive step in the trade relationship thaw but nevertheless join the many exporters who are disappointed that it delivered no dividend in sanction relief,” he said.

“Australia has been a good faith actor in its engagement with China, reflecting the importance of the trade relationship and the longevity of our diplomatic relations.”