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Australia-China FTA Agriculture Conference in Xi’an

27 September 2006

On 27 September the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, together with the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce (MofCOM), Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) and the Jinhe Research Centre of Xi’an Jiantong University, co-sponsored a conference on agriculture.  The conference was an important part of the advocacy strategy around a comprehensive Australia-China Free Trade Agreement.

The one day conference was the third major FTA conference DFAT has organised this year, following a services conference in Beijing in April and a manufacturing /resources/intellectual property conference in Shenzhen in June.  

Two sets of concurrent sectoral sessions covered Fibres (wool and cotton), Meat & Dairy, Grains & Sugar and Horticulture & Wine, and provided an opportunity for Australian and Chinese presenters to focus on particular opportunities or concerns. The Australian presenters spoke convincingly on how their respective sectors have established mutually beneficial arrangements with China, or could do, and demonstrated that increased market access for Australia, on a preferential basis, does not represent a threat to Chinese industry.  The presenters emphasised our credentials as producers and suppliers of high quality product but did so in the context of production constraints imposed by geography and climate.  This was important because some of the Chinese nervousness about market access for Australia comes from the misapprehension that Australia has virtually unlimited production potential.

The Chinese speakers were predominately respected academics.  Their presentations generally provided a factual description of their respective sectors and an enumeration of the challenges they face.  Many Chinese rural industries have reached a critical point in their development and speakers recognised the potential benefits from access to Australian product and know-how.  They invariably emphasised the increasing importance of rural industries in improving incomes and stability outside the major cities.  However, their presentations also underlined the sensitivity of liberalisation – even on a preferential basis for Australia.

The final session of the conference concentrated on agricultural technical cooperation – an area that many Chinese see as the main advantage of an FTA with Australia.  Australia presented three case studies (on citrus, wool and quarantine) which underlined the direct financial aid and the significant technology transfer and capacity building that has flowed over the years.  Peter Corish, the immediate past-President of the NFF, summed up the session by emphasising the importance of cooperation and of recognising that for the relationship to grow there must be benefits to both sides. 

Overall, the conference was a successful part of our ongoing advocacy strategy and the contribution by Australian industry was the most significant part of that success. 

Copies of the presentations by Australian industry speakers are provided as links on the program below.  Chinese papers will follow as they are made available.

Opening Session

Chair:
Dr Qian Keming, Deputy Director General, Agricultural Trade Office, Chinese Ministry of Agriculture (MoA)

Speakers:

Concurrent Sessions:

Fibres (Wool and Cotton)

Chair: 
Prof Feng Zongxian, Jinhe Center for Economic Research, Xi’an Jiaotong University

Speakers:

Meat and Dairy

Chair:
Ms Virginia Greville, Lead Negotiator - Agriculture, Australia-China FTA, DFAT

Speakers:

Crops (Grains and Sugar)

Chair:
Mr Allan Burgess, Chairman, Australian Dairy Industry Council (ADIC)

Speakers:

Horticulture and Wine

Chair:
Mr Cheng Hung Kay, CHK Trading Co. Ltd.

Speakers:

Agricultural Technical Cooperation

Chair:
Mr Peter Corish, Immediate Past President, National Farmers Federation

Speakers:

Summary of Proceedings