Almost a year on from the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement (ChAFTA), it is clear that the landmark deal is helping to underpin the bilateral relations amid an increasingly uncertain world.
Speaking in Parliament just before the summer recess, Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said the national interest is best served by developing strong relationships with major allies and partners, particularly on the economic front, such as the ChAFTA.
"China is Australia's largest trading partner and the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement will play an important role in diversifying our bilateral trade and investment, bringing substantial benefits to both countries," Bishop told Xinhua.
"Greater economic cooperation between our two countries will deepen political and other ties and create a stronger platform for future strategic and security cooperation."
The future is indeed very bright for the two economies that are natural, highly complementary economic partners, Chinese Ambassador to Australia Cheng Jingye said.
As more dividends from the ChAFTA come to fruition and greater synergy is being built between China-proposed Belt and Road initiative and the Northern Australia development strategy, China-Australia investment and business cooperation will be surely taken to a new high, Cheng said.
ChAFTA's growing contributions to China-Australia ties form a bright spot in the past year that has been hit by uncertainty from events such as Brexit.
CHAFTA REWARDS REBUKE ANTI-GLOBALISATION
After entering into force on December 20, 2015, more than 85 percent of Australia's goods exports to China (by value in 2015) now enter duty free or at preferential rates thanks to the agreement, and that percentage is expected to continue to rise in the coming years.
Australia's imports from China have also grown by 7.9 percent between the 2014/15 and the 2015/16 Australian financial years to account for 18.4 percent of all imported goods, far ahead of second placed Japan at 13.6 percent, Australia-China Relations Institute at the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS) deputy director and professor of economics James Laurenceson told Xinhua.
Despite the value of Australia's exports declining due to global pressures on key commodities over the past two years, services exports have surged 20 percent in the 12 months to June 30, 2016. Currently, Australia's education sector ranks third, while tourism exports rank fifth for a combined 35-billion-Australian dollar (26.14 billion U.S. dollar) revenue boon.
