The Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Peopleís Republic of China, Mr Tang
Jiaxuan, will visit Australia as a guest of the government from
17-20 March.Ý Mr Tang is taking up an invitation extended by the
Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Alexander Downer.
This will be the first visit to Australia by a Chinese Foreign
Minister since 1992.Ý The visit comes in a year which marks the
30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations
between Australia and the Peopleís Republic of China.ÝÝ
In the past 30 years, relations between Australia and China have
evolved greatly.Ý Our two-way trade has expanded in both size and
range.Ý It has grown from $113 million in 1973 to more than $18
billion in 2002 and grew by 19 per cent last year alone.Ý Bilateral
trade now covers an increasingly diverse range of sectors, including
energy, agriculture, manufacturing and services.Ý
The Australian Government hopes that this ministerial visit will
help strengthen our common long-term strategic and trade interests.Ý
Further, the visit will build upon the web of productive bilateral
dialogues established by the two countries.Ý During the visit, Mr
Tang will have detailed discussions with Mr Downer across the broad
range of shared interests.Ý
Media enquiries:Ý Matt Francis (Ministerial) 02 6277 7500 / Julie
McDonald (Departmental) 02 6261 1555