Today the China Australia Free Trade Agreement (ChAFTA) was
signed and tabled in the Australian Parliament following a decade
of negotiations and seven months of document review and
finalisation. Good things come to those who wait (and persevere).
This historic milestone will boost trade and economic growth in
both countries for years to come.
The formal agreement and ancillary arrangements are consistent
with the summary material released by DFAT in November. The key
issues are now well-traversed: investment protections and
facilitation, reduction or removal of tariffs, and increased access
for services businesses. We're excited about this historic next
chapter in the Australia-China relationship and we think you should
be too. We've spent the past seven months thinking about and
engaging with our clients on what this means for them. We set out
below some headline thoughts on where the biggest opportunities
are.
