Australia hopes for progress on FTA this year
Australian Trade and Investment Minister Andrew Robb said on Monday that he believes Canberra could reach a free-trade agreement consensus with China by the end of this year and this could benefit both countries widely.
Robb made the remarks to Xinhua in a short interview after delivering a speech at the Australian Dairy Farm Investment Forum which was held in Melbourne, saying "solid" progress had been made during negotiations with his Chinese counterpart on the issue.
"There's no reason why we can't see a completion (of the negotiation) by the end of this year. The opportunity is there, if we can conclude the negotiation satisfactorily for both sides, I think it's still possible to conclude it by the end of this year," said the minister.