CANBERRA, Australia – Australia on Monday successfully completed negotiations after nine years with its biggest trading partner China on a free-trade deal, the prime minister said.
Chinese President Xi Jinping will sign the deal later Monday after he addresses the Australian Parliament.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott said in a statement he would soon make further announcements on the pact.
News Corp. Australian newspaper reported that under the deal 85 percent of all Australian exports will enter China tariff-free.
A feasibility study on such a pact carried out in 2006 — a year after negotiations began — found it could increase the value of trade by $18 billion over a decade.
Two-way flow of goods and services between the countries was valued at more than $130 billion last year. Trade was worth just a quarter of that value a decade ago.
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