China, Australia vow to boost cooperation

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with his Australian counterpart Julie Bishop on Monday, pledging to boost cooperation between the two countries.

After congratulating Bishop's appointment as foreign minister, Wang said the Chinese and Australian governments had agreed to further deepen their ties, charting a course for the development of bilateral relations.

Both China and Australia are influential countries in the Asia-Pacific region and share broad common interests, the Chinese foreign minister said, adding the two sides should take advantage of high-level exchanges to build a solid foundation for the development of ties in a new era.

Wang said China and Australia share great potential in economic and trade cooperation.

China welcomes Australian enterprises to invest in China and hopes Australia could provide a fair investment environment for Chinese enterprises as well, he said.

The Chinese foreign minister said China hopes the two countries can make a breakthrough in their free trade agreement negotiations, injecting new momentum into the development of the two countries.

Meanwhile, Wang said China hopes the Australian government will respect China's territorial integrity and sovereignty on sensitive issues, such as Taiwan and Tibet, urging the two countries to step up their coordination and cooperation in multilateral issues.

Bishop said the Australian government attaches great importance to developing its relations with China from a long-term and strategic view.

She said Australia hopes to maintain the momentum of high-level exchanges with China and launch strategic dialogue to boost communications at multiple levels.

The Australian foreign minister also called for an early conclusion of free trade agreement negotiations, and urged the two countries to beef up their coordination and cooperation on multilateral as well as international issues.