Australia, China sign major deals, push free trade pact
by Staff Writers
Sydney June 21, 2010
Australia and China signed new deals worth 10 billion dollars (8.8 billion US) Monday and vowed to push for an early free trade agreement as they ignored diplomatic concerns to focus on economic ties.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd warmly welcomed China's Vice-President Xi Jinping to Canberra, entertaining 300 Chinese delegates with jokes in Mandarin, as he spoke of the booming economic ties with Australia's biggest trading partner.
"If we are going to face the global economic challenges of our time, then we must do so together," Rudd said, adding that total trade between Australia and China grew by 15.1 percent to 85 billion dollars during the slump of 2009.
Xi, who is tipped to succeed President Hu Jintao in the next two years, is the first high-level Chinese official to visit Australia since the jailing of Rio Tinto executive Stern Hu in Shanghai in March.
That issue, along with a visit by an exiled Uighur leader placed strains on the relationship further tested by fraught climate change talks in Copenhagen at which Rudd allegedly used a coarse phrase to refer to Chinese negotiators.
Speaking to a business luncheon, Xi said the relationship between the nations had set "an example" for other countries which have different political systems, cultural traditions and levels of economic development.
He said Australia and China should boost strategic cooperation on energy and resources and push for a free trade agreement at an "early date" because this would be of "strategic interest to both countries".
The Asian power's rapid industrialisation matched up with Australia's vast mineral exports to further cooperation, Xi said.
The 10 deals signed on Monday mostly involve energy and resources, a sector engaged in a furious fight with the government over its proposed 40 percent tax on mining profits that Xi was expected to raise with Rudd.
Under the deals, key export market China will invest in port, railway and mine construction in the resource-rich states of Queensland and Western Australia.
"This demonstrates the dynamic relations between the two countries in this sector, and the strong complementarity of the two economies," Rudd said in a statement after meeting China's heir apparent in Canberra.
"The agreements will also see upgrades to infrastructure and will deliver jobs and regional development."
Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said Xi's visit was a signal that the Australia-China relationship had matured to the point where problems could be worked through.
Xi's five-day trip, Smith said, indicated that "some of the difficulties and tensions that we had last year really are now behind us and we're both taking a long term view of the relationship".
Xi was also met by protesters in Canberra, with about 100 supports of the Falun Gong spiritual group and Tibetan supporters demonstrating peacefully outside Parliament House.
During his visit to New Zealand last week, a legislator confronted Xi's delegation with a Tibetan flag before he had it ripped from his hands.
Analysts said Xi would use the Australia trip to voice concerns about a proposed 40 percent tax on mining profits, which has stoked concerns about the costs of the resources China needs for its development.
-- Dow Jones Newswires contributed to this story --
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