Taking the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement (ChAFTA) as an example, it is clear that the landmark deal, which was put into effect in December 2015, has been helping to underpin the bilateral relations amid increasing uncertainties in the world.
"China is Australia's largest trading partner and the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement will play an important role in diversifying our bilateral trade and investment, bringing substantial benefits to both countries," Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop told Xinhua.
"Greater economic cooperation between our two countries will deepen political and other ties and create a stronger platform for future strategic and security cooperation," he said.
Bai Ming, a researcher with an institution affiliated with the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, said the ChAFTA's dialogue mechanism has helped the two sides solve problems in the implementation of the agreement and create sound conditions for win-win results and its further upgrade.
It will better benefit the two economies and peoples, Bai said.
GREATER CROSS-REGION ECONOMIC INTEGRATION
The remarkable achievements of the China-Australia free trade area have attracted world attention.
Along the eastern coasts of the Pacific Ocean, some Latin American countries, including Chile and Peru, as well as regional blocs such as the Pacific Alliance, have frequently expressed willingness to expand their free trade zone with countries in the Asia-Pacific region.
At present, the integration processes in Latin America and the Asia-Pacific region have a multi-level, multi-channel feature.
Latin America's resources complement the market of the Asia-Pacific region, providing a strong impetus for both sides to strengthen economic cooperation and promote their integration processes.
As of March 2016, seven Latin American countries and economies had forged bilateral free trade agreements with countries in the Asia-Pacific region, and a total of 19 free trade agreements had entered into effect.
In a press conference on March 9, Peruvian President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski expressed the eagerness of Latin America's trade bloc to promote regional economic growth and expand the free-trade zone with Asia-Pacific countries.
The economic development in Latin America is facing mounting pressure amid rising global uncertainties, said Kuczynski.
To promote their economic growth, members of the Pacific Alliance need to continue seeking new possibilities to sign free trade agreements with Asia-Pacific nations, Kuczynski said.
"We (Peru) have a free-trade agreement with China, and we have separate agreements with South Korea, Japan, Thailand and Singapore. We will try to broaden this with an effort through the Alliance," said the president.
Established in 2012, the Pacific Alliance, which groups Peru, Mexico, Colombia and Chile, is a regional political and economic integration initiative in Latin America.
Meanwhile, the four finance ministers from the Pacific Alliance member states later confirmed their desire in a meeting to expand trade with Asia-Pacific countries with an aim to promote the further integration of the trans-Pacific regional economies.
The Asia-Pacific is among the fastest-growing regions in the world, Peruvian Finance Minister Alfredo Thorne said, adding that the Pacific Alliance states could, as a whole, carry out free trade negotiations with Asia-Pacific countries.
