Australian Consulate-General, Guangzhou
Media Release PD14/07 Date: 12/06/2007
FTA seminar papers launched
Recently, the Australian Ambassador to China launched online papers from eleven Australia-China FTA industry seminars.
The seminars were held in Beijing over the past 18 months and covered a range of services sectors, agricultural commodities, mining investment and intellectual property.
The Ambassador said the papers from these seminars will help to inform the ongoing FTA discussions.
The papers will provide an excellent resource to improve understanding of the size and capabilities of Australian industry, and the mutual benefits of an FTA between China and Australia. While trade between Australia and China is growing strongly, the papers highlight the market access barriers which continue to restrict and limit commercial opportunities.
The Ambassador recognised the commitment of Australian industry representatives to travel to Beijing to put their case for preferential liberalisation directly to Chinese officials and other opinion makers.
The Ambassador said the seminars were part of an on-going series, with future topics to be covered including grains, telecommunications and education.
The seminar papers complement the FTA conference papers launched by The Hon Warren Truss MP, Minister for Trade and China’s Vice Minister for Commerce Yi Xiaozhun on 20 April 2007.
Australia’s banks, insurers, lawyers, accountants and other services firms are already helping to transfer knowledge and skills in China. Preferential access for Australian firms could help China’s services industry become more competitive, and promote the development of China’s services sector.
The papers from the mining investment seminar demonstrate that Australian resource companies are among the best in the world and would like to work more closely with China to develop its resources.
It is clear from the agricultural seminars that Australia’s agricultural exports do not pose a threat to China’s farmers. Australia can assist in meeting the gap between domestic consumption and production and help meet growing demand from China’s increasingly affluent consumers.
Achieving a high-quality, comprehensive FTA with China remains a priority for the Australian Government. We will continue to work hard with our Chinese counterparts to achieve real progress in the negotiations.
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opies of the papers are available on the Australian Embassy website: www.china.embassy.gov.au . The website also contains further information on the FTA conference papers.
For further information, contact Ellen Chen, Public Affairs Officer on（020）3814 0183.