MEDIA RELEASE

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER AND
MINISTER FOR TRADE

TIM FISCHER

9 May 1999

Fischer to Lead Australian Wool Industry Mission to China

Deputy Prime Minister and Trade Minister, Tim Fischer, will lead an Australian Wool Industry Mission to China as part of his visit to Beijing commencing on 16 May.

Mr Fischer leaves Australia this Thursday (13 May) on an 16 day trade mission covering eight countries including China.

Mr Fischer said China was Australia's most important market for wool, buying 136,000 tonnes (greasy equivalent), worth some $590 million, in 1998.

"I'm delighted to be leading this Mission, which will take place at a time when the wool market in China faces a number of opportunities and challenges for our wool exporters."

"The Mission, co-sponsored by Austrade and China's Ministry for Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation (MOFTEC), will foster an improved level of understanding between the wool and wool textiles industries of Australia and China, and will promote the long term prospects for the wool trade between our two countries."

Mr Fischer said the Mission would include a number of representatives of Australian wool export companies and wool industry bodies.

"A key focus of the Mission will be participation in two Australia-China Wool Workshops, jointly organised by Austrade, the Australian Wool Industries Secretariat and The Woolmark Company. The Workshops will be held in Beijing (18 May) and Nanjing (21 May) and will provide an excellent forum for discussion between representatives of our two industries and Governments, on important commercial and technical aspects in the bilateral wool trade," Mr Fischer said.

Mr Fischer's working trade visit will include Seoul, Beijing, Washington, Brussels, Geneva, Moscow, Paris and Budapest before returning to Australia on 31 May.