China and Australia expand free trade deal

China and Australia have signed new deals to expand their bilateral free trade agreement, as Chinese Premier Li Keqiang continues his visit to Australia.

The new agreements come as the two countries seek to cooperate to counterbalance a perceived rise in protectionism across the world.

Just as Australian media predicted, beef is a highlight of the new deals.

Under the old agreement, only 11 Australian beef producers were allowed to export to China.

China has agreed to remove the restriction, allowing all eligible frozen beef businesses in the country to enter its market.

Australia is the first country to be granted such a market access.

A growing demand for high-quality beef among the Chinese middle class contributed some 760 million US dollars to Australia's meat industry last year.

The deal comes days after China decided to suspend its beef imports from Brazil, Australia's major beef competitor in the Chinese market, amid a massive meat scandal in the Latin American country.

Premier Li Keqiang and Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull oversaw the signing of the new bilateral agreements.

The two leaders have also witnessed the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding in connection with a possible 4.6-billion-US-dollar investment project sponsored by a Chinese state-owned construction firm.

The project, yet to be approved, is looking at an iron ore mine, railway and port in the state of Western Australia.

Premier Li suggested economic cooperation between the two sides is something positive for the whole world.

"And we have seen that the world economic recovery is still fragile, although there are some good signs, the recovery is not strong enough. We both believe that we need to uphold free trade for the benefit of our peoples and the whole world, because free trade is a good way to address the weak economic recovery."said Li.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull echoed the words of his Chinese guest in a joint news conference on Friday:"We're very committed to free trade and open markets. We recognize there is a protectionist sentiment in many parts of the world. And as I've said before, as I said in Hangzhou at the G20, protectionism is not the ladder to get you out of the low-growth trap. In fact, it is a big shovel to dig it a lot deeper. Now, we've agreed that we will continue to promote liberalization in our region, and work to conclude the most ambitious regional comprehensive economic partnership possible."

Australia is seeking to minimize the impact of US President Donald Trump's January decision to withdraw from the Trans Pacific Partnership, a 12-country Asia-Pacific trade deal to which Australia is a party.

But with the country seeking increasingly close economic ties with China while largely relying on the US for security matters, observers are asking: who is Australia really standing with?

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull had this to say:"We have a staunch, strong ally in Washington, a good friend in Washington, and we have a very good friend in Beijing. The idea that Australia has to choose between China and the United States is not correct. The bilateral relationship between China and the United States is the single most important one for the prosperity and security and stability of the world."

Malcolm Turnbull noted Australia's strong but different relationships with Washington and with Beijing are the unique strength of his country.