Australia is likely to begin negotiating a free-trade agreement with China after a preliminary study was finalized last week, Australia's prime minister said yesterday.
Negotiations are expected to begin if the preliminary study convinces both countries that such a trade pact would be in their interests.
Prime Minister John Howard said Australia would have to recognize China as a market economy at the outset of negotiations and China would have to agree that all industries were on the negotiating table.
"I believe there's a good chance" negotiations will begin, Howard told Australian Broadcasting Corp television.
Howard is expected to formally launch the talks when he visits Beijing next month.
Australian Trade Minister Mark Vaile said yesterday a free-trade pact with China could be worth tens of billions of dollars to Australia.
"There's a unique opportunity that's presenting itself to Australia as a nation to consolidate our position in a trading relationship that is our third largest trading relationship, that with China," Vaile said.
Australia giving China market economy status would set an important precedent for China.
Last year, the EU refused to recognize China as a market economy, saying there was still too much government interference in business.
Australia has told China it would not consider China a market economy if it excluded industries such as its subsidized agricultural and services sectors from the deal.
"We're going to have a Cabinet meeting to decide whether we're going to commence the discussions. As of now we haven't conceded anything," Howard said.
"If we do concede market economy status, it will be in return for everything being on the table and also a very comprehensive agreement at the end," he said.
China is a major buyer of Australian iron ore, coal and natural gas, and its imports of these raw materials are surging as its energy needs grow.
Australia is also eager to ship more farm products such as grains and citrus fruits, but China considers itself a developing country in terms of agriculture and subsidizes its impoverished farmers.
China is Australia's third-largest and fastest-growing trading partner and fourth-largest export market. Trade between the two countries has quadrupled in the last decade. Last year, trade between the two countries was worth A$28.9 billion (US$23 billion).
Australia believes a free-trade accord with China could be more lucrative than a free-trade agreement with the US which began in January this year.
RESILIENCE: Deepening bilateral cooperation would extend the peace sustained over the 45 years since the Taiwan Relations Act, Greene said Taiwan-US relations are built on deep economic ties and shared values, American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Director Raymond Greene said yesterday, adding that strengthening supply chain security in critical industries, enhancing societal resilience through cooperation and deepening partnerships are key to ensuring peace and stability for Taiwan in the years ahead. Greene made the remarks at the National Security Youth Forum, organized by National Taiwan University’s National Security and Strategy Studies Institution in Taipei. In his address in Mandarin Chinese, Greene said the Taiwan-US relationship is built on deep economic ties and shared interests, and grows stronger through the enduring friendship between
GAINING STEAM: The scheme initially failed to gather much attention, with only 188 cards issued in its first year, but gained popularity amid the COVID-19 pandemic Applications for the Employment Gold Card have increased in the past few years, with the card having been issued to a total of 13,191 people from 101 countries since its introduction in 2018, the National Development Council (NDC) said yesterday. Those who have received the card have included celebrities, such as former NBA star Dwight Howard and Australian-South Korean cheerleader Dahye Lee, the NDC said. The four-in-one Employment Gold Card combines a work permit, resident visa, Alien Resident Certificate (ARC) and re-entry permit. It was first introduced in February 2018 through the Act Governing Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals (外國專業人才延攬及雇用法),
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications yesterday said that it would redesign the written portion of the driver’s license exam to make it more rigorous. “We hope that the exam can assess drivers’ understanding of traffic rules, particularly those who take the driver’s license test for the first time. In the past, drivers only needed to cram a book of test questions to pass the written exam,” Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱) told a news conference at the Taoyuan Motor Vehicle Office. “In the future, they would not be able to pass the test unless they study traffic regulations
EUROPEAN TARGETS: The planned Munich center would support TSMC’s European customers to design high-performance, energy-efficient chips, an executive said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday said that it plans to launch a new research-and-development (R&D) center in Munich, Germany, next quarter to assist customers with chip design. TSMC Europe president Paul de Bot made the announcement during a technology symposium in Amsterdam on Tuesday, the chipmaker said. The new Munich center would be the firm’s first chip designing center in Europe, it said. The chipmaker has set up a major R&D center at its base of operations in Hsinchu and plans to create a new one in the US to provide services for major US customers,