Landmark trade deal with Australia
Print Edition
CHINA and Australia signed a landmark free trade agreement yesterday that will remove most tariffs between the two countries whose bilateral trade is already worth more than US$137 billion.
The agreement, signed by China’s Commerce Minister Gao Hucheng and Australian Trade Minister Andrew Robb in Canberra, follows a similar one with South Korea at the beginning of the month.
It follows 21 rounds of negotiations over the past decade and was largely agreed in November during a state visit to Australia by President Xi Jinping.
More than 85 percent of goods and services between the two countries will be duty-free when the agreement comes into effect later this year. That will rise to cover all Australia’s exports and 96 percent of China’s by 2026 when the deal is fully implemented.
Australian businesses currently face charges of up to 40 percent on goods sent to China, but under the deal penalties on virtually all resources and energy products — a key plank in the trade relationship and among Australia’s top exports — will be abolished, AFP reported.
Duties will also be lifted on agricultural exports including wine, meat and dairy products.
In return, Australia will remove the existing 5 percent tariff on Chinese electronics and white goods, meaning cheaper goods for Australian consumers.
China also won concessions on foreign investment, with the threshold for government review to be lifted in most areas apart from agricultural land and agribusiness.
“The leaders of our two countries have attached great importance to the signing of this document,” Gao said. “It is a milestone in bilateral relations.”
In a message to Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott, Xi said the agreement will provide a better platform and an improved institutional guarantee for the two countries to complement each other with advantages and conduct close win-win cooperation.
The signing of the FTA will also set an example for high-level economic and trade arrangements in the Asia-Pacific and help promote regional economic integration, the Chinese president said.
Abbott said the agreement, which will give each country unprecedented access to the other’s market, was “the beginning of the next chapter” in Sino-Australian relations.
“It will change our country for the better, it will change our region for the better, and it will change our world for the better,” Abbott said, adding that China’s growing investment in Australia — almost the same size as China puts in the United States — is a sign of trust.
At present, China imports a quarter of Australia’s exports.
The pact will give the services sector a boost with China promising to allow subsidiaries based in China to be wholly Australian-owned in industries including tourism, translation, real estate and environmental services.
Bruce Billson, Australia’s minister for small business, said the agreement was “huge news” as it opened the door to hundreds of millions of new customers.
Tony Cripps, chief executive of HSBC in Australia, said: “This China-Australia FTA puts Australian businesses in an unprecedented position to mobilize their China strategy and gain a competitive edge.”
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 娌狪CP璇侊細娌狪CP澶05050403鍙-1
- |
- 浜掕仈缃戞柊闂讳俊鎭湇鍔¤鍙瘉锛31120180004
- |
- 缃戠粶瑙嗗惉璁稿彲璇侊細0909346
- |
- 骞挎挱鐢佃鑺傜洰鍒朵綔璁稿彲璇侊細娌瓧绗354鍙
- |
- 澧炲肩數淇′笟鍔＄粡钀ヨ鍙瘉锛氭勃B2-20120012
Copyright 漏 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
