In 2025, the China Australia Free Trade Agreement will celebrate its 10th anniversary. According to Chinese data, the bilateral import and export of goods between China and Australia reached 211.27 billion US dollars in 2024, an increase of 85.6% compared to 2015.

This is what the reporter learned from the "10th Anniversary of the Implementation of the China Australia Free Trade Agreement" sub forum of the Hongqiao International Economic Forum recently. This forum is an important component of the 8th China International Import Expo.

Han Yong, Director of the World Trade Department of the Ministry of Commerce, stated that the signing of the China Australia Free Trade Agreement in 2015 is an important milestone in the development of bilateral relations. Over the past 10 years, the agreement has achieved fruitful results in promoting economic and trade cooperation between the two countries.

After the agreement came into effect, tariffs have been continuously lowered, injecting strong impetus into the economic and trade cooperation between the two countries. Currently, the annual trade volume between China and Australia has exceeded AUD 300 billion, with China being Australia's largest trading partner and Australia becoming one of China's top ten trading partners, "said Paul Grimes, CEO of the Australian Trade and Investment Commission, at the forum.

The Chinese market already accounts for about one-third of Australia's exports. China has also become the largest market for Australia's tourism, education and other service industry exports, "said Yi Xiaozhun, former Deputy Minister of Commerce. The China Australia Free Trade Agreement has played an important engine role in the development of economic and trade relations between the two countries.

More important than numbers is the meaning behind them, "said Feng Baiwen, President of the China Australia Chamber of Commerce. The China Australia Free Trade Agreement represents the trust and persistence of enterprises from both countries, providing certainty and framework support for enterprises, and helping them grow, adapt, and innovate. Feng Baiwen believes that the current agreement has become a new platform for cooperation, covering areas such as clean energy and decarbonization, healthcare and medical technology, and digital trade.

Han Yong stated that in the next step, China will deepen the potential of the agreement with Australia, further enhance the level of trade and investment liberalization and facilitation, and provide higher-level institutional guarantees for the development of economic and trade relations between the two countries.