| Australian Trade Minister Visit to China |
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| Tuesday,April 15,2008 Posted: 13:08 BJT(0508 GMT) |
| From:Australian Government Department of foreign Affairs andTrade Article type:Original |
The Australian trade minister, Simon Crean, says he will visit China this week to try to revive stalled talks on a free trade agreement between the two countries.
Mr Crean plans to visit Beijing and Shanghai from April 16-20 and meet senior Chinese government officials and business leaders.
Free trade agreement talks opened between Australia and China three years ago, but progress has been slow, running into difficulty on Chinese market access for Australian agricultural goods.
Mr Crean says Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's visit to China last week had reinvigorated the process, and says his visit aims to build on that momentum.
"China has agreed to unfreeze negotiations and I will work with my Chinese counterpart minister Chen Deming to identify problems and possible solutions, and decide on a work program that will increase the intensity of negotiations," he said.
Mr Crean says he also hopes to raise the role China could play in encouraging developing countries to support the World Trade Organisation's Doha round of trade talks.
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Bilateral Visits
