A fifth Australian abattoir has been suspended from selling beef to China, as trade relations continue to sour, ABC News reports.

Agriculture Minister David Littleproud confirmed Chinese authorities suspended Queensland abattoir John Dee Beef from selling its meat to China.

It came as Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison pledged to ter up any state agreements with foreign governments that it deemed not in the national interest.

But Littleproud said there was nothing malicious about the ban, which was imposed after a "naturally occurring element" called chloramphenicol was found in the meat supplied to China from John Dee.

"It's quite legitimate what China has raised and the owners have acted very swiftly to trace where that element has come from," he said.

Littleproud said the element could naturally occur in some stockfeed and that Agriculture Department was working with officials in Beijing to rectify the situation as soon as possible.

Littleproud estimated the John Dee abattoir would typically sell about 30–40 per cent of its beef to China.

The abattoir, based at Warwick, south-west of Brisbane, claims to be Australia's oldest single family-owned abattoir.

Earlier this year, four Australian abattoirs were suspended from selling beef to China over labelling breaches just days after Beijing slapped hefty tariffs on Australian barley.

Australia says China suspends a fifth meat supplier