Australia and China ended their second round of talks on
establishing a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) in Beijing Wednesday.
A Ministry
of Commerce spokesperson said both sides felt satisfied with
the result of the three-day talks, and that they were helpful in
improving understanding of each other's trade mechanisms.
The third round of talks is expected to be held by
the end of October this year, according to the spokesperson.
The meeting was co-chaired by Zhang Xiangchen,
deputy director of the ministry's World Trade Department, and Ric
Wells, a senior Australian trade official.
During Australian Prime Minister John Howard's
visit to Beijing in April, his country recognized China's full
market economy status and the two sides agreed to start FTA
negotiations.
The first round of FTA talks began in Sydney on May
23.?
(Xinhua News Agency August 25, 2005)