Australia is willing to expand cooperation with south China's Guangdong Province in the field of energy, said Australian Governor-General Michael Jeffery here Wednesday.

In his meeting with Zhang Dejiang, secretary of the Guangdong provincial committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), Jeffery said Australia has conducted sound cooperation with Guangdong in the project of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) since 2002 and the project is expected to be completed and go into production in April, 2006.

Besides the LPG, Australia and Guangdong enjoy wide cooperation prospects in the sphere of reproducible resources like coal, solar energy, drinking water and other renewable energy technologies, acknowledged Jeffery.

Zhang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, said the total trade volume between Guangdong and Australia reached 4.5 billion US dollars in 2004, which accounts for 22 percent of the total volume of imports and exports between China and Australia. The trade volume between Guangdong and Australia this year is going to top 5 billion US dollars, Zhang said.

Zhang noted that Guangdong is a province with the most robust economy in China, yet it faces with a acute shortage of resources. While Australia is one of the countries that boast most abundant energy and other resources in the world. The two sides have a great potential in cooperation.

A delegation of Guangdong is expected to visit Australia earlier next month in an effort to seek bilateral cooperation in the sectors as science, education, culture, medical treatment and health care, said Zhang.

Jeffery arrived here late Tuesday. On Thursday, Jeffery and his party will leave for Shenzhen, another open city in the province and an economic power house neighboring Hong Kong.

Source: Xinhua