CANBERRA, Australia (Reuters) — Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said on Friday (March 24) that Beijing and Canberra should extend free trade to more sectors and defended China’s stance on the disputed South China Sea.
Li, the first sitting premier to visit Australia in 11 years, said China will now accept chilled beef exports from all licensed exporters.
China is already Australia’s largest trading partner, business that has been propelled by the wide-ranging free trade agreement between the two in 2015.
Beef, including frozen and live cattle, is a large driver of soaring Chinese demand for Australian agriculture, worth more than A$8 billion last year.
A Memorandum of Understanding, tied to a A$6 billion ($4.6 billion) mine, rail and port project, was also signed in a ceremony attended by Li and his Australian counterpart Turnbull.
China State Construction Engineering Corp Ltd has tentatively agreed to build a new port and rail line for a yet-to-be-approved iron ore mine in Western Australia, according to the MOU with privately-owned New Zealand firm BBI Group.
China is not militarizing the South China Sea, Li said, although he acknowledged that defense equipment on islands in the disputed waterway had been placed there to maintain “freedom of navigation”.
China has drawn international criticism for large-scale building in the South China Sea, although Li told reporters in Australia the development was for civilian purposes only.
