Australia, China seek to revive economic ties

It is encouraging that the Australian Minister for Trade Don Farrell acknowledged that trade and investment has always been a part of the bedrock of relations between Australia and China and that there is much for the two sides to discuss how to make that foundation even firmer. During the meeting, Wang invited Farrell to visit China at a convenient time so that they could work together to bring economic cooperation back on track. After the meeting between the leaders of the two countries in Bali on the sidelines of the G 20 Summit in November and the foreign ministers of the two countries in December, this is another sign of the two sides' desire to bring more positive factors into their economic cooperation and trade.

The affirmative tone of the opening remarks by the two ministers, which were released by both sides shortly after their meeting, is a welcome sign that their meeting was productive. If so, that will set the stage for the two sides to work out practical solutions to settle some knotty trade issues that have appeared over the past few years. Their talks cover all the major issues relating to Sino-Australian trade and investment, which encountered some difficulties under the previous Australian government due to its blind follow of the United States' strategy to contain China.

Farrell acknowledged that China continues to be Australia's largest trading partner by a considerable margin, and is an important source of investment.

The past five decades since the two countries established diplomatic relations clearly show that the Chinese market and Chinese investment, tourists and students bring jobs and benefits to Australia and deepen mutual understanding between the two peoples.

Their trade and investment cooperation has not progressed well in recent years, which has been to the detriment of both sides. There are broad opportunities for cooperation in a wide range of areas such as climate change, the green economy and low-carbon and new energy technology and industry, and finding a way to fully tap into the full potential of their highly complementary economies is in the interests of both sides.

Having frank discussions may not solve all the differences between the two countries, but facing up to the difficulties can help build trust and expand common ground.

By working with China to get their relations back on a healthy track, Australia would set a good example to other US allies that there could be a middle path that can be found between the two without hurting their own interests.