Australia-China FTA to be Comprehensive and Ambitious

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade Mark Vaile said today that an Australia-China Free Trade Agreement (FTA) would be comprehensive, liberalising and agreed as a single undertaking while recognising each others sensitivities.

"The confirmation of our approach to the FTA came following fruitful meetings with Premier Wen and the Chinese Minister for Commerce, Bo Xilai," Mr Vaile said.

"I am very encouraged by Premier Wen's comments relating to ambitious timeframes where he said both sides should be looking for breakthroughs in the next one to two years".

"Australia and China have agreed the FTA will aim to bring concrete benefits to both sides, and will be negotiated in a ‘win-win' spirit. Both sides start the negotiations with sensitivities - that is what negotiations are all about. But Australia and China are committed to working through the complex issues to achieve a positive outcome.

"My meetings with China's top economic leaders this week have given the negotiations new impetus. We look forward to steady and positive progress in the negotiating rounds this year, which will do much to define the future shape of the agreement."

"The negotiations will be difficult, but are worth persisting with. The Government would be irresponsible if it stood by and ignored the huge opportunities presented by China's economic transformation. The FTA offers us the opportunity to strengthen the competitive position of Australian exporters and investors by reducing tariff and other barriers to trade and investment."

Australia's economic relationship with China is already strong and growing rapidly. Exports of iron ore alone to China rose by 126 per cent in 2005 to reach $5.7 billion, while exports of manufactures rose by 17.6 per cent to $2 billion. Chinese student enrolments in Australia grew by 18 per cent last year, to over 80,000, and tourist numbers grew rapidly, too, with short-term visitor arrivals from China reaching 285,000 in 2005.

Four Rounds of negotiations have already taken place and the next round of negotiations, scheduled for late May in Beijing, will discuss the provisions of the agreement in most areas. Market access negotiations will begin in the second half of the year.

Contact: Mr Vaile's Office 02 6277 7420, Departmental 02 6261 1555