Chinese ambassador to Australia hails success of first 10 years of comprehensive strategic partnership

Chinese Ambassador to Australia Xiao Qian Wednesday hailed the tangible benefits to both countries from the China-Australia comprehensive strategic partnership.

Speaking at the 2024 Australia-China Economic Cooperation Forum held in Hobart, capital of the island state of Tasmania, Xiao on Wednesday night welcomed the recent practical cooperation between the two countries.

He said that cooperation between China and Australia on solar energy technology has become a model case for the global green energy cause and that growing cultural and educational exchange programs have strengthened the bonds between the countries.

"Since the establishment of China-Australia comprehensive strategic partnership, our economic and trade cooperation has reached a new level, bringing tangible benefits to the two peoples," Xiao said.

Xiao said that the two countries should work together to build a more mature, stable and fruitful comprehensive strategic partnership and strengthen traditional cooperation in trade, energy and mining while capitalizing on the complementary advantages in the fields of climate change, energy transition and innovation.

China and Australia established a comprehensive strategic partnership in 2014.

Xiao described the Chinese leader's visit to Tasmania – the smallest of Australia's six states by both population and area – as a successful story of the China-Tasmania friendship, saying it promoted mutually beneficial exchanges and cooperation between the two sides.

"Now, China remains Tasmania's largest trading partner, and Tasmanian high quality products such as salmon, cherries are widely welcomed by Chinese consumers," he said.

Jeremy Rockliff, the premier of Tasmania, said China is the state's strongest global trade partner and the number one destination for Tasmanian exported goods.

He said that goods worth a combined 1.4 billion Australian dollars (around $920.6 million) were exported from Tasmania to China in August – representing 30 percent of the state's total exports.

"It (China) is currently the number one destination for Tasmanian food exports, with products exported, including Tasmanian world-class seafood, dairy and whiskey, along with a wide range of other premium products," he said.

Rockliff will in November depart for an official visit to Shanghai, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and Fujian Province, which has been Tasmania's sister state since 1981.

He said his China tour would focus on further expanding the partnership between China and Tasmania in key sectors including trade, tourism, aquaculture, forestry, tourism, arts, culture and entertainment.