Media Release
September 5, 2008
Visit to China
On 6 September I will travel to Xiamen in China's Fujian Province, to represent Australia at the China-Pacific Island Countries Economic Development and Cooperation Forum on 7-10 September.
In addition to addressing the Forum, I will undertake bilateral discussions with Pacific island representatives and will meet China's Assistant Commerce Minister Mr Wang Chao.
Fujian Province is also coincidentally the sister province of my home state of Tasmania so I will meet with Vice Governor of Fujian Province Mr Hong Jiexu and Mayor of Xiamen Mr Liu Xigui.
This visit provides an important opportunity to present the Rudd Government's revitalised Pacific engagement and wider views on Pacific economic development and cooperation.
It will also sustain further high-level contacts with China, following recent visits by the Prime Minister and Trade Minister.
The Government regards it as imperative that we deepen our discussion with our Pacific island neighbours – and other partners such as China – of trade and economic cooperation. This holds a key to delivering better prospects for genuine, stable and long-term growth in the Pacific.
Australia welcomes the increasingly important role China is playing in the Pacific. China's economic engagement presents opportunities for Pacific island countries, including expanded trade opportunities and improved links with the global economy.
China's economic success also provides an example of the potential benefits of liberalising trade and investment. Australia has a flourishing trade relationship with China and we look forward to assisting Pacific island countries to form similar relationships.
Pacific island countries are beginning to reap the benefits of liberalised aviation services, notably for tourism, while deregulation of telecommunications is bringing down the cost of communications and improving services and opportunities, including for remote communities.
The Pacific's economic prospects will also be boosted by taking forward negotiations for a regional free trade agreement, ‘PACER Plus', which Pacific Island Forum Leaders recently endorsed at the Niue summit.
Some key facts:
Australia and China have a long-standing relationship that has contributed to each other's economic success and development.
The strength of our relationship is reflected in the fact that China has become Australia's largest two-way trading partner. In just the last three years our exports to China have more than doubled, and China has become our second largest export market after Japan.
Australia now exports three times as much to China as to the UK, twice as much to China as to the US, and more to China than to the entire European Union.
As the Chinese economy has grown, Australia's trade relationship with China has also become more diverse.
Our biggest exports to China are iron ore, wool, other minerals, and natural gas, but Australia's economic engagement with China is not only about commodities - important as they are. Last year we exported nearly $1.4 billion in elaborately transformed manufactures to China - a 16 per cent increase on the previous year.
And significant scope exists for increased trade in banking, telecommunications and other services sectors.
But as broadly-based as our economic relationship with China is, we are still in the early stages of its development, and there is great potential to develop it further.
Prime Minister Rudd has committed the Australian Government to a new era of close cooperation with Pacific island nations, building partnerships based on mutual respect and responsibility, in order to meet our common challenges and to raise the standard of living for people throughout the region. Australia respects the independence of the island nations, and the diversity and complexity of regional development challenges. As part of this approach to the Pacific, Australia has devoted considerable resources to strengthen vulnerable states, notably Solomon Islands, and to promote economic reform and good governance.
In line with the 6 March Port Moresby Declaration, we are developing Pacific Partnerships for Development. The Partnerships will provide a framework to deliver improved development outcomes for Pacific island countries involving increased assistance and incentives, underpinned by Pacific islands' commitment to improve governance, increase economic infrastructure investment and deliver better health and education services in line with the Millennium Development Goals. At the Pacific Islands Forum Leaders' Meeting in August, Australia agreed Partnerships with Papua New Guinea and Samoa.
Economic growth in the Pacific, while improving in some Pacific island countries, generally lags behind other developing regions. Australia is committed to linking the FIC economies to Australia and New Zealand and the world, including through pursuing a region-wide free trade agreement (PACER Plus) and enhancing other private sector development opportunities. A comprehensive and well-crafted agreement, with a generous package of trade capacity and trade development assistance, offers the best prospect of promoting genuine, stable and sustainable economic growth in the region. In the long-term, this will reduce unacceptably high levels of regional aid dependence and deepen economic integration which will be essential if the region is to flourish. Similarly, the Pacific has a significant comparative advantage in natural resources such as minerals, timber and marine resources. In the future, these resources must be managed wisely and sustainably.
Media inquiries: Mr Kerr's office - 02 6277 4991 - Departmental Media Liaison 02 6261 1555