China and Australia officially sign “history making “ free trade deal

Wednesday, 17 June 2015 17:40:30 (GMT+3)   |   Shanghai
       

A free trade agreement between China and Australia was officially signed on June 17 in Canberra by Chinese commerce minister Gao Hucheng and Australian trade minister Andrew Robb. Negotiations on the agreement had commenced in 2005 and concluded last year.

Commenting on the FTA, Minister Gao stated, "It is the highest degree of liberalization of all FTAs China has so far signed with any economy". Australian prime minister Tony Abbott said that the agreement would give each country "unprecedented access to each other's markets". He added, "It means duty-free entry for 99.9 percent of our resources, energy and manufacturing exports within four years." The Australian prime minister hailed the FTA as "history making" for the two countries.

The full details of the FTA have yet to be released. The agreement will also have to be ratified by Australia's parliament before coming into effect. More than 85 percent of Australian exports to China will be tariff-free under the deal, rising to 95 percent upon full implementation.


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