Spotlight: Sino-Oz comprehensive strategic partnership forged, FTA talks concluded (2)

Chinese President Xi Jinping holds talks with Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott in Canberra, capital of Australia, Nov. 17, 2014. (Xinhua/Pang Xinglei)

FTA TALKS

The practical conclusion of bilateral FTA talks "is a big event worth celebrating in our trade and economic relations," Xi told Abbott.

"The two sides have taken a pragmatic attitude to address the concerns of each other, and the FTA demonstrates a balance of interests and is a high-quality, high-level deal," he said.

On energy resources, Xi said, the two sides should go beyond the simple model of goods trade to advance the cooperation in upstream and downstream integration and build a long-term strategic cooperative partnership.

The two countries should continue to strengthen cooperation in infrastructure construction, agriculture and animal husbandry, and financial services, the president said.

China will set up a clearing bank in Sydney to handle RMB business and grant a 50-billion-yuan (8.2 billion U.S. dollars) quota of investment to Australian financial institutions under the RMB Qualified Foreign Institutional Investors (RQFII) program, Xi said.

China has also agreed to increase the inter-bank bond market quota to 10 billion yuan (1.6 billion dollars) for the Reserve Bank of Australia to invest in China, he said.

Launched in 2011, the RQFII program allows foreign investors to invest in Chinese onshore stock and bond markets with offshore RMB.

China stands ready to actively participate in Australia's development project in its northern regions at the invitation of the Australian side, Xi said.

He also expressed hopes that Australia can continue to offer a fair environment for Chinese companies.

For his part, Abbott said the completion of the FTA negotiations is very exciting and displays the extensiveness and strong momentum of bilateral cooperation.

The Australian side hopes to constantly promote bilateral trade and investment, and welcomes Chinese businesses to invest in the country and participate in the exploitation of energy resources and the infrastructure construction such as high-speed railways and ports, he said.