Australia and China sign historic free trade agreement
Baku, November 18, AZERTAC
China will open its doors to billions of dollars of Australian goods and services under a historic free-trade agreement.
South Australia’s food and agriculture sector will receive a major boost from the sale of dairy, meat, seafood, fruit and vegetables and grain products to China, under the deal, signed yesterday by Prime Minister Tony Abbott and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Under the agreement, 95 per cent of Australian goods exported to China will be tariff-free. Australian companies will also be free to open private hospitals, nursing homes and hotels in China and offer legal, construction and other services. Australian consumers will benefit from cheaper electronic and other goods from China.
Australian trade negotiators won so many concessions during final negotiations for the trade agreement that the value of the deal to the Australian economy is not yet known. Mr Abbott said the agreement was a victory for consumers and workers in both China and Australia. The two leaders signed the agreement after Mr Xi addressed federal Parliament in Canberra. Mr Xi said the agreement would provide a bigger market, more favourable trading conditions and better institutional support for cooperation between the two countries. “As a Chinese saying goes, it takes 10 years to sharpen a sword,’’ Mr Xi said. “So we are very glad to see that after nearly 10 years of negotiations, our two sides have announced the substantive conclusion to the bilateral FTA negotiation.’’ Australia exported $95 billion worth of goods and $7 billion worth of services in 2013. Under the agreement, tariffs on dairy, beef and sheep, wine, horticulture and seafood will be phased out. Tariffs will also be scrapped in the resources and energy sector.
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