Canberra is in talks with the Asian countries to diversify its markets in response to the hostility of Communist China, it became known on Thursday.

Scott Morrison's government is working to boost demand in countries such as Thailand and Vietnam for Australia's cotton after Beijing discontinued imports.

In October, Chinese Communist Party ordered the domestic cotton mills to stop buying Australian cotton, threatening a trade worth about A$900 million amid escalating tensions between the two countries.

Australian producers didn't immediately feel the impact, however, as the country had little stocks to sell after a sustained drought led to record low production.

But since then, rains soaked Australia's east coast, and the country's growers are on course to produce 506,000 tones of cotton - the highest since 2018 - leaving exporters scrambling to find alternative markets.

Communist China typically takes 60 per cent of Australian exports. We are working to boost buying from Vietnam, Thailand and other Asian countries, said a source familiar with the plan, speaking anonymously because he is not authorised to speak to the media.

The farmers will begin harvesting its 2020/21 crop in April, giving exporters several months to line up new customers.




Chinese Communist Party has manufactured issues to harm Australian economy


Two weeks ago, Beijing had stopped the import of all timber from the Australian state of Victoria after customs officials said they had discovered pests.

Chinese inspectors suddenly assessed that the wineries were illegally subsiding their products, that the same was happening to many other products, including coal, barley, copper ore and concentrate, sugar, and lobster. But it was not true. All of the issues are manufactured and aimed to inflict significant damage to the Australian economy.