Sino-Australian cooperation in natural resources and a dialogue with students dominated the second day's agenda of Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's visit to Australia.
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In Perth, Wen attended a briefing on Australian natural resources, visited an iron foundry, toured a hydrocarbon research center, exchanged views with Chinese and Australian college students and met with West Australia Tate Premier Alan Carpenter.
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The event-packed day ended in Canberra, where his Australian counterpart John Howard hosted a red-carpet, 19-gun salute welcome ceremony.
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Wen and Howard are expected to hold official talks, at the culmination of his tour, during which the Chinese and Australian governments and enterprises will ink a number of cooperative documents which are likely to include an agreement on the peaceful use of nuclear energy.
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In his concluding speech made at the briefing chaired by Australian Industry, Tourism and Resources Minister, Ian Macfarland, Wen said Australia boasted abundant natural resources while China remained a stable and growing market.
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"The bilateral cooperation in mineral resources is carried out in line with equality and mutual benefit and the establishment of long-term, stable and healthy cooperative ties serves the interests of both countries," he said.
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Resources trading which accounts for 60 percent of Sino-Australian dual-track trade hit US$27.3 billion in 2005. In iron ore alone China imported 112 million tons worth US$6 billion in 2005. The two countries also trade in coal, copper and nickel.
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He urged the two sides to seize the opportunities and extend the cooperation from current commodity trading to upstream exploration and collaboration in new, renewable and clean energies and production safety.
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In HIsmelt Kwinana Joint Venture Iron Making Facility, Wen climbed atop a tower to watch the smelting of the iron ore and asked detailed questions on the new technology which has a low environmental impact.
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China had engaged in building up a resource-efficient and environmentally-friendly society, he told the Australians, adding that there was room for the two sides to enhance cooperation in this regard.
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A cheerful moment came when he lit "burning ice" -- actually solidified natural gas--and chatted with young college students from China and Australia during his visit to Curtin University of Technology.
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Despite differences in social systems, histories and cultural backgrounds, Chinese and Australian peoples both cherished peace and love life, he said. Thanks to the diversity, tolerance and openness of the cultures of both, the two countries could learn from each other and coexist harmoniously.
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"We talked about iron ore and natural gas the whole morning," he told his audience. "Economic cooperation is important because it brings benefits to the two peoples. In the long run, the contacts among the young people and the exchanges in areas of education are most important," he added. Wen invited 100 Australian college students to visit China each year for the next two years.?

China now has around 80,000 students studying in Australia.

(Xinhua News Agency April 3, 2006)