Monday, August 11, 2003
Australia to push China for free-trade talks
Reuters Canberra, August 11
Australia will push China, its third-largest trade partner, to consider setting up a free-trade agreement (FTA) when the prime minister visits Beijing next week, a senior government official said on Monday.
Prime Minister John Howard will spend next Monday in Beijing to meet China's new leadership, President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao, and to try to expand the economic relationship between the two countries.
Two-way trade between Australia and China has almost trebled since Howard's conservative government won power in 1996, with two-way trade totalling A$21.2 billion ($13.8 billion) in 2002.
China is now the fourth-largest destination for Australian exports, taking about seven per cent of last year's total, especially in the form of iron ore, wool and crude petroleum, and the third-largest source of imports, such as computers, toys and textiles.
A senior government official said trade was one of the items on the agenda for next week's talks, alongside China's role in helping defuse a stand-off over North Korea's nuclear ambitions.
"One of the things we will be discussing is the possibility of a scoping study into an FTA with China," the official told a media briefing on condition of anonymity.
He said Australia, a world-leading agricultural and mineral exporter, did not expect any decision to be taken during the visit but stressed Canberra would push for an examination of the pros and cons of such a pact.
Howard is keen to tighten trade ties with China and build on Australia's success last year in securing a A$25 billion contract to supply 3.3 million tonnes of LNG annually to Guangdong province for 25 years -- Australia's largest single export deal.
The Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics, a government forecaster, sees bright prospects for expanding sales of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to China.
The bureau said four provinces on China's east coast were expected to be importing 11 million to 14 million tonnes of LNG a year by 2015.
Australia, a member of the Cairns Group of free-trading agricultural exporters, currently has two free-trade deals -- a long-standing pact with neighbouring New Zealand and a deal signed earlier this year with Singapore.
Australia is also currently negotiating free-trade deals with Thailand and the United States, a close ally and its second-largest trading partner, after Japan.
© Hindustan Times Ltd. 2003. Reproduction in any form is prohibited without prior permission