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Highlights
- China is lobbying the Australian Government for help to join Trade Pact despite worsening geopolitical issues.
- The Chinese embassy highlighted that China is Australia’s largest trading partner.
- The call for support came despite geopolitical rows between China and Australia.
To join a multilateral, regional trade pact, China is lobbying the Australian Government for support, despite worsening geopolitical disputes between the two nation.
The Chinese embassy’s suggestion came in a submission to a parliamentary inquiry. The submission came in the week when the Australian Treasurer Josh Frydenberg mentioned that Australia must diversify its economy to avoid Chinese dependence.
What does the submission say?
In the submission, China highlighted its trade strength with Australia. The Chinese embassy also stated that China is Australia’s largest trading partner.
The Chinese embassy also mentioned about the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement which was signed in 2015. It said that the Trade Agreement has led to rapid development of Aussie-Chinese relationship along with dispute settlement mechanism. The embassy mentioned the removal of 95% tariffs last year.
However, China avoided mentioning about billions of dollars’ worth of Australian exports in corrective sanctions previously imposed by Beijing. China had imposed numerous trade restrictions on many Australian goods and services, including coal, wine, and log timber, amid tensions between Beijing and Canberra, for 18 months.
Many Aussie agricultural goods, listed in the Chinese submission, have faced custom disruptions in 2020. The Australian government has widely interpreted the scenario as politically motivated as the inquiries were dumped post Australia called for an international inquiry to investigate the origins of COVID-19.
Despite such informal restrictions in place as per media reports, the Chinese government is asking the Australian government to support them in joining a regional trade pact.
Why China intends to join the pact?
Eleven nations, including Australia in 2018, had signed a Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).
According to Australia’s foreign affairs and trade department, the membership expansion of the CPTPP beyond eleven original signatories is likely to help Australia diversify its export markets.
