Seize historic opportunities in the FTA: Create a brilliant future of China-Australia commercial relations

High-level Opening-up Promotes New Growth

At present, global economic recovery remains slow and unstable, with many economies facing downward pressure. Both China and Australia face multiple new challenges. Against this backdrop, the signing of China-Australia Free Trade Agreement has special significance for driving economic growth in the two countries and even in the world at large.

In retrospect of the 43 years since China and Australia established diplomatic ties, economic cooperation and trade has always been the “propeller” of our relations. The two-way trade volume expanded more than 1,500 times, reaching a record high of 136.9 billion dollars in 2014. China has long been Australia’s largest partner for trade in goods, largest export market, largest import source, and a growing source of investment. Australia has become China’s 8th largest trading partner, whose cumulative paid-in investment exceeded five billion dollars in the past decade. After the signing of the FTA, our trade and economic relations will surely become closer than ever, and generate stronger growth and more job opportunities to the long-term benefit of Chinese and Australian people.

As important members of the global economic community, China and Australia are the world’s 2nd and 12th largest economies. In the Asia-Pacific region, China and Australia combined represent one quarter of the economic aggregate of APEC members. The signing of China-Australia Free Trade Agreement will not only boost economic growth of the two countries, but also benefit many other countries and regions, contributing to sustainable economic growth in the Asia-Pacific and beyond.

“From shore to shore, it is wide at high tide, and before fair wind a sail is lifting.” This Chinese poetic line is a vivid description of current China-Australia relations. 2015 is the inaugural year of China-Australia comprehensive strategic partnership. The signing of China-Australia FTA indicates that political mutual trust and practical cooperation between the two countries have reached a new level. This agreement will add new substance to their comprehensive strategic partnership. Now, the two countries have drawn up a brilliant blueprint for their comprehensive strategic partnership and set up a broad stage for building a high-level free trade area. We are confident that so long as the two countries work together, keep to the right direction in their bilateral relations, adhere to the principle of mutual respect, mutual benefit and win-win, China and Australia surely will make new achievements in their practical cooperation and create a brilliant future for their commercial relations.

The author is the Minister of Commerce of China.