China refuses to put cards on trade table
The Age, Melbourne
China refuses to put cards on trade table
By Mary-Anne Toy, Xian
28 September 2006
Agriculture minister Peter McGauran’s lightning trip to Xian, home of the famed terracotta warriors, yesterday was to open a joint agriculture conference intended to persuade the Chinese that Australian farmers are no threat to their 800 million peasant counterparts, most of whom are barely above the poverty line and who form a potentially volatile force in Chinese politics.
Mr McGauran’s presence was also intended to reassure all concerned that the comprehensive free trade agreement with China trumpeted by the Howard Government was still on track, despite the surprise failure of the Chinese earlier this month to table specific market access concessions for Australian manufactured and farmed goods.
In turn the Chinese spoke warmly of a "balanced, high-quality" FTA while warning Australia not to expect "excessive liberalisation".
Chinese and Australian negotiators had agreed to table their opening concessions on goods during the sixth round of FTA negotiations in Beijing at the start of September, but while the Australian side was ready, the Chinese were unable - or unwilling - to do likewise. The outcome was that Australia did not table its offer and goods have now been postponed to the next round of talks in Canberra in December.
Mr McGauran told more than 120 industry and government leaders at the conference yesterday that Australia understood China’s desire to protect its farmers as Australia had similar considerations. But he emphasised that, despite an international reputation as a agricultural exporter, Australia’s tiny size meant Chinese fears of being swamped by goods from down under was an impossibility.
Representatives from wool, cotton and other industries gave example after example of how Australia could not compete with China’s massive demand and scale of production. Australia’s 800 cotton farmers, for example, at best could provide 3½ weeks of China’s annual demand for imported cotton.
In reply, Vice-Minister of Agriculture Fan Xiaojian told the conference that, while his Government gave "serious priority" to a quality FTA with Australia, there was a strong need to "prevent damage to Chinese industry due to excessive liberalisation".
Mr Fan said that, despite great improvements since liberation, China’s 800 million peasant farmers remained a vulnerable and poor part of society and reminded Mr McGauran that Australia now enjoyed an agricultural trade surplus of $2.1 billion (although the overall trade balance is some $5 billion in China’s favour).
On the positive side, the Agriculture Vice-Minister noted that the two farming sectors were largely complementary, with Australia strong on resource-intensive goods such as livestock and China stronger on labour-intensive goods such as horticulture and fisheries.
Australian officials refused to be drawn on the reasons for the failure of the Chinese to table their opening offer on goods this month, saying such hitches were inevitable and that there was no slowing down of the negotiations.
Speaking outside the conference, Mr McGauran denied that Cabinet had exempted automotive, textiles, clothing and footwear from FTA negotiations, insisting all would be revealed in the next round of talks.
Asked about Chinese attitudes to the talks, Mr McGauran said he was heartened by the confirmation that China saw agriculture was part of the FTA negotiations.
