Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has requested China to remove its trade sanctions against Australia to begin repairing the fractured relationship.

Key notes

Canberra and Beijing have begun face-to-face communications.

Defence Minister Richard Marles met his Chinese counterpart almost two weeks ago.

“It is China that has imposed sanctions, it is China that has changed, and it’s China that needs to remove those sanctions," Albanese said on June 15.

"Well, China already, there have been some improvements, but it's a long way to go," Albanese said referencing the restart of dialogue between their ministers.

"I said that before the election - regardless of the outcome - China has sanctions against Australia that should be removed. They're damaging the Australian economy and jobs, but they're causing damage to the Chinese economy."