In an article published by The Australian daily on Monday, the Australian foreign minister said that since Australia and China established diplomatic relations 30 years ago, cooperation in the trade, economic and cultural fields has increased significantly.

He pointed the fact that the two-way trade has grown more than a hundred fold in the past 30 years, from 113 million Australian dollars (63.8 million US dollars at present rate) to 18 billion (10.17 billion US dollars).

Downer said, "Australia's successful partnership with China supports regional stability."

"In our view, China's growth and economic reform is an opportunity for the whole region, not a threat. Australia has encouraged that process, including through China's World Trade Organization accession and its key role in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum. China's success is a consequence of the liberalization and internationalization of its economy and is therefore a boon for the whole of the Asia-Pacific region," he said.

Downer expressed the readiness of his government to strengthen the relationship between the two countries. He said, "Despite the great advances Australia has made with China, this government is not content to sit on its laurels. Negotiation of a trade and economic framework agreement -- launched by Mr. Howard and premier Zhu in May -- is a priority. Such an agreement would further enable business to take full advantage of the deep economic complementarities between our countries, including opportunities arising from China's WTO accession."

(People's Daily December 16, 2002)