MINISTRY OF COMMERCEOn February 6, Wang Wentao, Minister of Commerce held a virtual meeting with Australian Trade Minister Don Farrell at the latter's invitation. The two sides had a professional, practical and candid exchange on implementing the important consensus reached in talks between leaders of China and Australia in Bali, Indonesia, properly addressing each other's key economic and trade concerns and planning the development of bilateral economic and trade ties in the next phase.
China and Australia are each other's key trading partner and have great economic complementarity. As a window of opportunity has opened for China-Australia trade and economic relations, both sides should work hard to inject more positive energy into bilateral economic and trade cooperation. The meeting is an important step for both sides to get bilateral economic and trade relations back on track, said Wang Wentao.
The 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China stresses that the door of China will open still wider to the world. China's continued development and opening-up will bring more opportunities for countries around the world, including Australia. The two sides should follow the guidance by the two leaders and pull in the same direction to strengthen communication and coordination on the trade and economic front and address concerns in a mutually beneficial way, said Wang Wentao. He reaffirmed China is willing to restart economic and trade exchange mechanisms with Australia, expand cooperation in emerging areas such as climate change and new energy, as well as promote high-quality growth of economic and trade relations between the two countries. China is highly concerned about Australia's tightened security review of Chinese companies' investment and operations in Australia and hopes it will properly handle related cases and provide Chinese firms with a fair, open and non-discriminatory business environment, he said. Wang Wentao extended an invitation to Minister Farrell to visit China at a suitable time.
Farrell said Australia and China have highly complementary economies. China is Australia's largest trading partner and also an important source of investment. Trade and investment has always been part of the bedrock of China-Australia relationship. Australia welcomes high quality investment from all countries, including China and looks forward to further expanding cooperation on climate change and renewable energy, among other sectors. Both China and Australia support the rules-based multilateral trading system. Australia is willing to work together with China to enhance mutual trust and address differences through frank dialogue to benefit Chinese and Australian people, said Farrell. He looks forward to visiting China in the near future.
The two sides agreed to stay in touch and asked working teams to conduct discussions on matters of interest and the arrangement of the trade exchange mechanisms.
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