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| LNG Project Reflects Closer China-Australia Ties |
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Premier Wen Jiabao and his Australian counterpart John Howard yesterday jointly inaugurated the first liquefied natural gas (LNG) project between the two countries in South China's Both hailed the 25-year contract to supply a Shenzhen terminal with gas from The two leaders pushed the start-up button together during a ceremony at Dapeng Gas Terminal in the bustling manufacturing hub of Shenzhen. "Not only is this deal the biggest ever in Australia's history, it is in every sense a symbol of what can be achieved in the future between our two countries," said Howard. The 29-billion-yuan (US$3.6 billion) terminal was built to receive LNG shipments from Wen said the deal "marked a very big, very good beginning to stable, long-term supply-and-demand relations" between the two countries. The deal is The Shenzhen facility, operated by China National Offshore Oil Corp, is the first of 16 planned terminals in coastal area for receiving LNG. The plants convert the fuel from liquid into gas form, which is then piped to consumers, industries and power plants. Under the contract, A senior Chinese official said the two nations were already in talks over supplies for China-Australia exchanges and collaboration have become more active than ever before, Wen said. "We are willing to continue high-level exchanges with Leaders optimistic on Sino-Australian FTA talks Both Wen and Howard have expressed their hopes of accelerating talks on a free-trade agreement yesterday. The sixth-round negotiation of the Sino-Australia FTA will be held in "We have agreed to speed up the free trade area (FTA) negotiations," Premier Wen told reporters after a one-hour meeting with Howard. "Both sides are very sincere I believe Chinese and Australian trade will both benefit," he said. Liao Xiaoqi, vice minister of commerce, said the Chinese and Australian FTA delegations are working hard to reach a balanced agreement in one or two years. "We are quite confident," he told an FTA seminar. Given that both countries have different economic structures and are at different development stages, problems are inevitable, especially in agricultural trade, the service industry mode and the openness of investment, Liao said. "We believe all issues concern both sides and could be discussed at the negotiating table. Only with an open and active attitude and full consideration and understanding of the difficulties of each party, can we finally make a breakthrough and reach a win-win FTA agreement," he said. Howard said the negotiations are going well and he is optimistic about them. He said Sino-Australian trade has made remarkable achievements even without the free-trade agreement. "What we should remember is that whether we sign a free trade agreement with He also agreed that there are some important issues to be addressed and hoped the industries of both countries are able to understand the corresponding situations. Howard said he hoped He noted that However, he stressed "The service sector has certainly got enormous opportunities and I think we should see the relationship in a very broad manner; for example, the financial service, education and even in manufacturing, and not just see it in terms of coal, iron ore and gas," he said. The trade between the two countries reached US$27.3 billion in 2005, up 33.6 percent from a year ago. In the first five months of this year, the trade volume rose 17.4 percent year-on-year to US$11.7 billion, according to official figures. ( |
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