"Currently, there have been top level communications ... even face-to-face contacts but we have not yet come to the stage to discuss about how to solve those specific issues," he told reporters in Canberra, the capital, as quoted by Reuters. 

Australia's diplomatic ties with its largest trading partner are at a low ebb after the two clashed over issues such as trade, the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic and Australia's accusations of Chinese political interference.

Last month, Australia's Foreign Minister Penny Wong said she raised the trade spat when she met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on the sidelines of a Group of 20 meeting in Bali, Indonesia.

It "remains the government's position those trade blockages should be removed," the minister said in Bali.

China had responded during the talks by stating its "well-known" position and perspective on the dispute, she said.

said she had also raised the cases of journalist Cheng Lei and democracy activist Yang Hengjun, Australian citizens detained in China.

"I think all of these issues will take some time," she said. "There is a path we are walking. And we will take one step at a time in the interest of the country."

Wong said Australia and China had gained much through their economic and people-to-people ties.