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Decorative

Call for submissions to the General Review of the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement

Please note: submissions received will be uploaded at the bottom of this page.

China is Australia's largest trading partner. The China-Australia Free Trade Agreement (ChAFTA) is a key pillar of our economic architecture with China. Since ChAFTA's entry into force 10 years ago (20 December 2015), two-way trade has more than doubled, from AUD 151.2 billion to AUD 311.7 billion in 2024.

During Prime Minister Albanese's visit to China in July 2025, Australia and China decided to commence a General Review of ChAFTA. Article 16.5 of ChAFTA mandates the Parties to periodically undertake a General Review of the Agreement.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) is inviting submissions from stakeholders to inform the General Review.

We want to hear from all stakeholders, including:

  • businesses
  • peak bodies and member organisations
  • state and territory governments
  • non-government organisations
  • research institutions and academia
  • the Australian public.

DFAT is seeking views on the implementation, operation and impact of ChAFTA since its entry into force, and areas for further improvement or expansion, including, but not limited to, consideration of deepening liberalisation and further expansion of market access.

In your submission, you may wish to discuss:

  • the benefits and potential gaps or challenges on the function of ChAFTA since its entry into force
  • barriers to trade that could be addressed through enhancing or improving the existing Agreement
  • opportunities to deepen market access and to enhance trade facilitation measures
  • opportunities in specific industries, sectors, goods, services and investment in China
  • any overlaps between ChAFTA and other bilateral and regional free trade agreements that Australia and China have joined since ChAFTA entered into force.

Your submission may include information on changes to your exporting, importing or investment situation and/or significant changes to business conditions. We welcome product, service or investment-specific case studies.

Submissions and confidentiality

All submissions are treated as public and may be published on this website unless the author specifically requested that the submission, or part thereof, be handled in-confidence. Unless otherwise requested, DFAT publishes submissions and the name of the submitting organisation or individual on its website. DFAT does not edit submissions prior to publishing. All details that have been included in a submission, including contact information, are available on the DFAT website.

If you are requesting that all or part of a submission be treated as confidential, the confidential material must carry a ‘Confidential’ watermark on every page so it is clearly identifiable and be provided in a separate attachment to non-confidential material. By way of example:

A two‑page template divided vertically. The left side is titled “Submission cover page” and contains placeholder text for “[Submitter’s name]” and “[Review name].” The right side is titled “Body of the submission – for every page.” Both pages have a large, faint diagonal watermark reading “CONFIDENTIAL.” The layout is minimal with wide blank space


By making a submission, the author(s) agreed to their submission, or part thereof, being used by the Commonwealth of Australia for Commonwealth purposes.

Closing date for submissions

Submissions are due by 31 March 2026.

Copyright and content

Copyright in submissions resides with the author(s), not with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

The views expressed in these submissions are the views of the author(s) and should not be understood as reflecting the views of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

File format

Please use a Word or PDF file for submissions. Where possible, we also encourage making your submission accessible. Information on Creating documents that meet accessibility guidelines is available on our website.

Lodging submissions

To provide a submission, please email: FTAModernisation@dfat.gov.au and include 'ChAFTA Submission [name of organisation]' in the subject line. 

Submissions received

The following submissions have been received in response to the review. Contributors have given their consent to be identified and/or for their submissions to be published.

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