Chinese commerce minister calls for common interests with Australia to be expanded

BEIJING -- China's Minister of Commerce has called on Australia to make joint efforts to expand common interests, and urged the two countries to address each other's concerns on the basis of equality and mutual benefit, according to a commerce ministry statement on Saturday.

Commerce Minister Wang Wentao made the remarks on Friday when co-chairing the 16th China-Australia Joint Ministerial Economic Commission in Beijing with visiting Australian Trade Minister Don Farrell, the statement said.

The two economies are highly complementary and have fruitful economic and trade cooperation, Wang said, calling for the important consensus reached by the two heads of state in Bali to be implemented, for common ground to be sought while reserving differences, and for practical cooperation to be advanced.

China will accelerate its establishment of a new development pattern and promote high-level opening-up, which will bring new opportunities to countries around the world, including Australia, Wang noted.

He said China is willing to work with Australia to expand areas of cooperation, and it hopes Australia will provide a sound business environment and treat Chinese companies and products fairly and justly.

In his remarks, Farrell said that the two sides have recently made substantial progress in advancing bilateral economic and trade relations, and in the proper handling of each other's key economic and trade concerns, according to the statement.

Australia is willing to continue strengthening cooperation with China on multilateral and regional platforms such as the World Trade Organization and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, Farrell added.

The two ministers have also agreed on several issues, including restarting the free trade agreement joint committee, strengthening green and low-carbon cooperation, and supporting cooperation between enterprises from both countries in the fields of digital trade and e-commerce.