This book provides readers with a unique opportunity to learn about one of the new regional trade agreements (RTAs), the China–Australia Free Trade Agreement (ChAFTA), that has been operational since December 2015 and is now at the forefront of the field. This new agreement reflects many of the modern and up-to-date approaches within the international economic legal order that must now exist within a very different environment than that of the late eighties and early nineties, when the World Trade Organization (WTO) was created. The book, therefore, explores many new features that were not present when the WTO or early RTAs were negotiated. It provides insights and lessons about new and important trade issues for the twenty-first century, such as the latest approaches to the regulation of investment, twenty-first century services and the emerging digital/knowledge economy. In addition, this book provides new understandings of the latest RTA approaches of China and Australia. The book's contributors, all foremost experts on their subject matter within this field, explore the inclusion of many traditional trade and investment agreement features in the ChAFTA, showing their continuing relevance in modern contexts.

On 24 October 2003, the Australia-China Trade and Economic Framework was signed in the presence of the Australian Prime Minister John Howard and Chinese President Hu Jintao. The Framework sets out an agenda for the bilateral trade and economic relationship over the coming years and covers a wide range of activities aimed at strengthening commercial and policy linkages. As an expression of the will of the two countries to build an even stronger economic and trade relationship, Australia and China committed as part of the Framework to undertake a feasibility study of a possible bilateral Free Trade Agreement (FTA) as a basis for a decision as to whether to enter into FTA negotiations.

This Mandarin-language only publication communicates the benefits to China of an FTA with Australia, across all sectors, and was created to assist Posts in their ongoing advocacy efforts. The original version was produced in 2006, and this 2008 version has updated statistics and information.

Investment between Australia and China is modest when compared with the volume of two-way trade. An FTA between Australia and China would provide opportunities to implement measures to attract more foreign investment from each other, and from third parties, providing a firm foundation for the future economic relationship.

This briefing reports the impact of an Australia-China Free Trade Agreement (FTA) on Australian States and Territories. The impact is analysed by simulating three aspects of an FTA using the Monash Multi-Country (MMC) model developed at the Centre of Policy Studies (CoPS).