Inept FTA itinerary

09 Sep '06

2 min read

Since, China was unable to provide sufficient information, the latest round of free trade agreement talks between Australia and China in Beijing failed to make its expected start on the crucial issue of market access for goods.

Each side was to have told the other what access they were prepared to concede.

Both sides agreed more work was needed before this negotiation of the FTA process could start.

The Australians maintain theirs will remain a high-quality market access offer - one that is ambitious and would require a similar response.

Australia continues to seek a more detailed, comprehensive package, despite the recent disagreements within cabinet about the need to quarantine sectors such as car making and textiles, clothing and footwear, which have their own industry plans, from being subject to fresh concessions to Chinese competitors.

Chinese negotiators are closely observing this debate.

The complexity of this negotiation makes it a ground-breaking challenge for the Chinese, another likely contributing factor to their inability to present their market opening package in the last few days.

China has agreed FTAs with the 10 members of the Association of South-East Asian Nations, and Chile, Hong Kong and Macau.

The concurrent FTA talks with New Zealand were less complicated and less difficult as they had a narrow area of discussion and hence maybe they can be finalized shortly.

China is also negotiating FTAs with members of the Gulf Co-operation Council and of the Southern African Customs Union and with Singapore and is exploring the possibility of deals with Japan, South Korea and India.

World Trade Organization had recently warned China that FTAs may serve China's geopolitical interests or short-term commercial interests but not China's systemic interests in the long run.

China would not be able to be involved in most of the FTAs in the world, even if FTAs continue to multiply worldwide and as a result the settings for China's exports will decline and may not be able to develop.

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