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| Saturday, 25 October 2003 |
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Australia, China boost ties with huge gas deal CANBERRA, Friday (Reuters) Australia and China strengthened their trade ties during a visit by President Hu Jintao on Friday, with China handing Australia a huge gas supply deal and the two nations expected to start exploring a free trade pact. Resource-rich Australia is seeking to tighten economic ties with China, the world's fastest growing major economy, while China wants to build up its economic relationships in the Asian region to ensure imports of raw materials to feed its growth. News that Beijing-controlled CNOOC was planning to buy a stake in Australia's Gorgon gas field as part of a record A$30 billion ($21 billion) deal hotted up Hu's visit and the planned signing of a wide-ranging trade and economic framework. Hu said China saw Australia as an important trading partner now and in the future but stressed that dealing with China meant respecting its system and treating it as an equal. "China and Australia respect each other's sovereignty and territorial integrity, stick to non-interference in each other's internal affairs and enjoy a growing mutual trust in the security field," Hu told a joint sitting of the national parliament. While Australia has tightened its ties to the United States in recent years, culminating in a visit by President George W. Bush on Thursday, it has also continued to pursue trade links in Asia which accounts for about 50 percent of its total trade. Hu stressed the importance of Sino-Australian trade with the two-way flow almost trebling to A$21 billion since 1996 when conservative Prime Minister John Howard came to power. The parliament gave Hu a warm welcome, with none of the protests witnessed during Bush's visit when heckling from two left-leaning Greens politicians disrupted his speech. |
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