中澳簽署具有里程碑意義自由貿易協定

China and Australia have signed a landmark free trade agreement that follows about a decade of negotiations.

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott and Chinese Trade Minister Gao Hucheng attended the signing ceremony Wednesday in Canberra.

"It will change our countries for the better , it will change our region for the better, it will change our world for the better," said Mr. Abbott.

Trade Minister Gao praised the free trade deal, which was struck late last year, as "comprehensive, high-quality and balanced."

"It has the highest degree of liberalization amongst all the FTA's China has so far signed with another economy," he said.

Under the pact, tariffs eventually will be lifted on 95 percent of Australian exports, according to the official Xinhua news agency.

The wide-ranging agreement will also lower restrictions on Chinese investment in Australia and make it easier for Australian banks, insurance companies and universities to do business in China.

China is Australia's biggest trading partner. Two-way trade between the two nations amounts to over $123 billion annually.中國和澳大利亞經過大約10年的談判，簽署了一項具有里程碑意義的自由貿易協定。

星期三，澳大利亞總理阿博特和中國商務部長高虎城在堪培拉出席了簽署儀式。

阿博特說：“這將使我們兩國變得更好，使我們的地區變得更好，也使我們的世界變得更好。”

高虎城讚揚了這項自由貿易協定。他說，這項協定全面、優質、全面。他還表示，在中國迄今與其他經濟體簽署的自由貿易協定中，中澳自由貿易協定具有最高的自由度。

中國官方的新華社說，按照這項協定，中國對澳大利亞95%的出口商品最終將不再徵收關稅。

這項內容廣泛的協定還將放鬆對中國在澳大利亞投資的限制，並使澳大利亞銀行、保險公司和大學能在中國更方便地運作。

中國是澳大利亞的最大貿易伙伴，每年的雙邊貿易額超過1230億美元。