The legal text of the China-Australia FTA (ChAFTA)
has now been signed and publicly released. The text sets out the
detail of the specific commitments agreed by Australia and China
and provides greater transparency around each country's
regulatory framework. Already Australia's largest trading
partner, the ChAFTA will be the launch pad for further expansion of
this important trade and investment relationship.
Ten years after negotiations of the agreement first started, the
ChAFTA was signed on 17 June 2015 by Australia's Minister for
Trade and Investment, Andrew Robb and China's Commerce
Minister, Gao Hucheng.
The ChAFTA will enter into force upon the completion of domestic
legal and parliamentary processes by each country. In Australia,
the legal text will now be reviewed by the Australian
Parliament's Joint Standing Committee on Treaties and the
Senate Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade References Committee.
