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(Bloomberg) -- Woodside Energy Group Ltd. has signed an agreement with China Resources Gas International to send liquefied natural gas to the Asian country, the first binding supply deal for the fuel between Chinese and Australian companies in years.

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Australia’s Woodside will provide about an annual 600,000 tons of LNG over 15 years on a delivered basis, starting from 2027, the company said in a statement on Monday. The move also comes as Chinese firms are reluctant to procure additional gas from the US, the biggest exporter, after Beijing implemented tariffs on fuel from the US last month.

“This marks the first time Woodside on a standalone basis has signed a long-term sale agreement with a customer in China,” Executive Vice President & Chief Commercial Officer Mark Abbotsford said in the statement. It’s also the first time China Resources has signed an agreement to procure LNG over a period of 15 years, he said.

The relationship between Canberra and Beijing has improved since a lowpoint in 2020 when then-Prime Minister Scott Morrison led calls for an independent probe into the origins of the coronavirus. This resulted in Chinese companies temporarily halting plans to buy more fuel from the nation.

Beijing also imposed tariffs on Australian wine in 2021, before lifting the levies three years later, as well as restrictions on coal, metals and agricultural products.

China Resources is one of the biggest city gas distributors in the country. Its Rudong LNG terminal based in Jiangsu is still under construction and is projected to commence operations in early 2026.

--With assistance from Kathy Chen.

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