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China

Australia enters dragon’s den
4-May-2005 Mail & Guardian
Despite Australian PM Howard’s glee last week at being the first country to secure Chinese agreement to a bilateral free trade deal, he might find that actually realising an agreement will be a very tough assignment.
Vegetables not included in ‘early harvest’ deal with China
3-May-2005 Philippine Star
Vegetables are not included in the Early Harvest Program (EHP) agreement the Philippines and China signed just this Wednesday, April 27, according to Trade and Industry Secretary Juan B. Santos, even though raw and unprocessed agricultural products are covered by the agreement.
China, Pakistan FTA to be finalised soon: Finance Advisor
3-May-2005 Asia Pulse
Finance Advisor to Prime Minister Dr Salman Shah on Thursday said free trade arrangement (FTA) between Pakistan and China would be finalised soon. Talking with PTV he said, "We are working on free trade arrangement with China as it will open huge market for Pakistani products."
Sino FTA more likely than Japan: Howard
2-May-2005
Prime Minister John Howard has conceded clinching a free trade agreement with China was more likely than with Japan.
Senate confirms Portman as US Trade Representative
1-May-2005 DTN
The US Senate has confirmed President Bush’s nomination of Representative Rob Portman to be trade representative. In a statement, Portman said "Congressional approval of the Central American and Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement, China trade issues, the enforcement of existing agreements, keeping on pace the Doha talks to lower trade barriers, and our ongoing regional and bilateral trade negotiations, are all front and center issues for me."
Howard scores big in China
30-Apr-2005 Japan Times
You can’t win ’em all. Fast-jetting Australian Prime Minister John Howard discovered that on his latest barnstorming through East Asia. In Beijing he was buoyed by the success of signing on to a feasibility study aimed at preceding a free trade agreement (FTA). In Tokyo he got the usual welcoming smiles but no deal on an FTA.
Chen: Taiwan and China should sign FTA, not CEPA
30-Apr-2005 ET Today
Meetings for the first time in 56 years between leaders of the KMT and Chinese Communist Party, were staged on Friday. President Chen Shui-bian closely monitored the proceeding of such a meeting, worried that the KMT will ignore the government’s opposition against signing a Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement with China.
Questions raised over benefit to Australia of trade deal with China
29-Apr-2005
A former leader of Australia’s governing Liberal party, John Hewson, has questioned whether a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with China will provide any great benefits for Australian exporters.
Trilateral free trade agreement
28-Apr-2005
Not too long ago, the entire country and the National Assembly agonized over the ratification of Korea-Chile Free Trade Agreement (FTA). Its final National Assembly passage was delayed from the strong opposition of many people, particularly from farmers. It is remarkable to learn that the Korean government is now either negotiating or planning to negotiate with as many as 50 countries to complete their FTAs by 2007.
FTA prompts boost in logistics cooperation with China
28-Apr-2005
Thailand is poised to open at least four new consulates in China, and is accelerating the development of logistics operations with China in anticipation of the birth of the Chinese-Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Free Trade aAea in 2010, Deputy Foreign Minister Preecha Laohapongchana revealed today.
EHP reaps fruit of its success
26-Apr-2005 China Daily
China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) are making encouraging progress with the early harvest programme (EHP), which the two economies launched in January 2004.
Vegie growers face $500m a year FTA loss
22-Apr-2005
Vegetable growers stood to lose $500 million a year and 5,000 jobs if Australia struck a free trade deal with China, the industry says.
Japan settles for ’low-risk, low-return’ FTA goals
22-Apr-2005 Japan Times
Prudish about bilateral free-trade agreements just five years ago, Tokyo is now fielding partnership requests from 25 economies and regional blocs. But there is no denying an element of haphazardness in the way it is selecting some of the candidates.
China FTA could harm fruit and veg growers
22-Apr-2005 ABC
The South Australian Farmers Federation (SAFF) says the introduction of a comprehensive free trade agreement (FTA)with China could decimate the state’s horticulture industry.
Long march for Australia, China FTA
21-Apr-2005 Dow Jones Newswire
Fifteen years. That is how long China dragged out negotiations for its entry into the World Trade Organization. And there’s no reason to believe that finalizing a comprehensive free-trade agreement with Australia will be any less painstaking.
Return to negotiating table for ‘early harvest’ deal eyed
20-Apr-2005 ABS-CBN
Negotiations for the proposed Early Harvest Program (EHP) may soon resume as the Philippines and China expressed interest in forging a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on the project.
Vaile says no exclusions in Australia-China FTA
20-Apr-2005 Australian Financial Review
Nothing had been excluded from negotiations on a free-trade agreement between Australia and China, Trade Minister Mark Vaile said today.
Would a free trade agreement with China be a sensible move?
19-Apr-2005
I recall two incidents. One, a meeting with a senior functionary in the Chinese embassy in 2002. His comment: China’s main grouse with Pakistan after 9/11 was that they had allowed the US into our backyard. Second, the same year, at a seminar in JNU, a Japanese delegate was explaining why the Japanese were cutting aid to India-India’s nuclear explosion was difficult to justify to the paranoid Japanese public.
The journey has begun, but it’ll take long to arrive
19-Apr-2005
“To travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive,” wrote noted English novelist Robert Louis Stevenson. For me, a free trade agreement (FTA) with China is something similar. A free trade agreement with China could be a final destination and we can travel hopefully to it.
Australian Miners Place Big Hopes On China FTA
19-Apr-2005
If the proposed free-trade agreement between Australia and China can cut the long delays faced by Australian mining companies to get projects off the ground in China, it could give a major boost to Australian mining investments in China.