Report: China is no.1 trade partner for all Australian states

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China remains the largest trading partner for all six Australian states, an official report said on Monday.

The "Australia's Trade by State and Territory 2016-17" report, released by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), found that Western Australia (WA) remained the biggest exporter among Australia's states and territories in the 2016-17 financial year.

WA, Australia's biggest state by land mass, accounted for 35.1 percent of the country's total exports, followed by Queensland (22.4 percent) and New South Wales (22.3 percent).

The report also found that China became the Northern Territory's biggest trading partner in 2016-17, making it the largest trading partner for all of Australia's states and territories except the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), which does most of its trade with Switzerland.

Increased trade links have brought China and Australia closer together in recent years. /VCG Photo

Steven Ciobo, Australia's Trade Minister, said that the value of exports in all states and territories grew in 2016-17.

"Queensland saw a 30.4 percent increase in exports in 2016-17, followed by Western Australia at 18.5 percent and New South Wales at 13.1 percent," Ciobo said in a media release on Monday.

"Prices received for exports also increased for most states with Queensland seeing the largest increase (up 22.1 percent)."

Australia's natural resources were the most sought-after goods internationally, the report said.

An iron ore mine in Western Australia, known as "The Valley of the Kings." /VCG Photo

Iron ore and concentrates were WA's major exports totaling 62 billion Australian dollars (49.1 billion US dollars), while for Queensland and New South Wales it was coal with values of 23 billion and 11.8 billion US dollars respectively.

According to The Australian, significant increases in prices for coal and iron ore were factors behind the rise in exports.

The national newspaper quoted Steven Ciobo as saying that a recent "clampdown" on external interference in politics had not affected trade, or else " it would show up in services, particularly in travel and education."

Victoria and South Australia (SA) were the only states where minerals weren't the biggest export items. Education-related travel services topped Victoria's exports at 7.1 billion US dollars while for SA it was alcoholic beverages at 1.18 billion US dollars.

Source(s): Xinhua News Agency