把握中澳自贸协定历史机遇

6月18日，中国商务部部长高虎城在《中国日报》发表署名文章，阐述了中澳自贸协定带来的发展机遇和产生的积极影响。以下为双语对照全文：

On June 17, 2015, the much-anticipated China-Australia Free Trade Agreement was formally signed in Canberra, Australia. It is a significant event in China-Australia relations. Chinese and Australian leaders were fully committed to the FTA negotiations. President Xi Jinping reached an important consensus with his Australian counterpart on speeding up the negotiations and signing the FTA agreement at an early date. Premier Li Keqiang personally pushed the negotiation process forward.

6月17日，在两国各界翘首企盼下，中澳自贸协定在堪培拉正式签署。这是两国关系中的一件大事。中澳两国领导人高度重视自贸协定谈判。习近平主席在两国领导人会晤中，与澳方就加快谈判、早日签署自贸协定达成重要共识。李克强总理亲自推动相关谈判进程。

As Chinese and Australian leaders pointed out in their congratulatory messages, China-Australia Free Trade Agreement, once signed, will provide a higher platform and stronger institutional safeguards for closer, complementary and win-win cooperation. It will help promote the economic integration process in the Asia-Pacific region as well as deeper integration and common development of the Asia-Pacific economies.

正如两国领导人在互致贺信中提出的，中澳自贸协定的签署将为两国实现优势互补和密切互利合作，提供更高的平台和更完善的制度保障，也将有助于推动亚太经济一体化进程，促进亚太地区各经济体的深度融合和共同发展。

China-Australia Free Trade Agreement is one of the most progressive FTAs in trade and investment liberalization either has ever signed. China and Australia have made high-level commitments to each other on trade in goods, trade in services, investment and rules, meeting the objective proposed by Chinese and Australian leaders for a comprehensive and high-standard agreement with balanced interests.

中澳自贸协定，是两国迄今已商签的自贸协定中贸易投资自由化整体水平最高的自贸协定之一。中澳双方在货物贸易、服务贸易、投资和规则等各个领域，相互做出了高水平承诺，实现了两国领导人提出的全面、高质量和利益平衡的目标。

A more open environment for market access. Compared with the liberalization level of around 90 percent in FTAs in general, China-Australia FTA shows a substantially higher level of openness in trade in goods. At the end of the staging period, 100 percent of Australian products to China in terms of both tariff lines and trade volume will enjoy duty-free treatment, and close to 97 percent of Chinese products to Australia in terms of tariff lines and 97 percent of trade volume will be duty-free.

更加开放的准入环境。与一般自贸协定中90%左右的自由化水平相比，中澳自贸协定的货物领域开放程度大大提升。澳方所有产品最终零关税比例在税目和贸易额上均将达到100%，中方最终税目和贸易额零关税比例也将分别接近和达到97%。

This means that consumers will have access to more high-quality agricultural, energy, mineral and finished industrial goods imported from the other country at lower prices. On the investment front, the two countries will accord MFN treatment to each other, open wider the services sector, and significantly lower the threshold for investment review. Such substantive measures will boost bilateral cooperation in a wide range of sectors, from infrastructure, energy and resources, to finance, tourism and agriculture.

这意味着，两国消费者将因此获得更多质优价廉的进口农产品、能矿产品、工业制成品。在投资领域，双方相互给予最惠国待遇，扩大服务业开放，同时大幅降低企业投资审查门槛。这些实质性的举措，将强有力推进两国在基础设施、能源资源、金融、旅游以及农业等各个领域的合作，为双边经贸关系发展增添新动力。

A more enabling business environment. In the agreement, China and Australia have explored in a pragmatic way further opening in multiple sectors, including e-commerce, intellectual property, government procurement and trade facilitation, some of which have reached the highest level of liberalization so far.

更加便利的营商环境。中澳自贸协定在电子商务、知识产权、政府采购和贸易便利化等诸多领域，进行了务实探索，部分领域达到了目前最高水平。

Take e-commerce as an example. The agreement provides for duty-free e-commerce transactions, protects online consumers and data, and encourages the use of digital certificates, which will make online trading easier for both businesses and consumers from the two countries. Australia will set up a new facilitation scheme for Chinese engineers and technicians to work in Chinese invested projects in Australia, which is the first time that such a special arrangement is offered by a developed country to China. These substantive facilitation measures are sure to further improve the business environment and incentivize mutually beneficial cooperation between the two countries.

以电子商务为例，协定涵盖了电子交易免征关税、为在线消费者和在线数据提供保护、鼓励使用数字证书等相关内容，将为两国企业和消费者带来巨大便利。澳方还专门针对中方投资项下工程和技术人员赴澳设立新的便利机制，系发达国家首次对中国作出特殊便利安排。这些实质性的便利化举措，必将营造更优质的营商环境，激发两国开展互利合作的新动能。

Closer people-to-people and cultural exchanges. While boosting the commercial ties, the FTA will also deepen people-to-people and cultural exchanges at various levels. Australia will provide working holiday visas to 5,000 young people from China every year, which will allow the holders to stay in Australia for up to 12 months. Besides, Australia will offer an annual entry quota of 1,800 people for occupations with Chinese characteristic, including TCM practitioners, Chinese language teachers, Chinese chefs and martial arts coaches, who can stay in Australia for up to 4 years. This will further boost people-to-people exchanges.

更加密切的人文交流。中澳自贸协定在促进双边经贸合作发展的同时，也将深化两国在各个层面的人文交流。澳方为中国青年赴澳提供每年5000人的假日工作签证，获得该签证的中国青年可在澳居留12个月。此外，澳方给予中国特色职业人员每年共1800人的入境配额，涉及中医、汉语教师、中餐厨师和武术教练等诸多领域，相关人员在澳停留期限最长可达4年。这将进一步促进两国民间往来。

China-Australia FTA has set a successful example for cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region. Though both are major economies in the world, China is the largest developing country whereas Australia is a mature developed economy. The two countries have distinctively different cultural backgrounds, different levels of development, complementary industrial structures and some differences in values. After a decade of negotiations, China and Australia have eventually reached a comprehensive and high-standard Free Trade Agreement with balanced interests. The agreement is not only an embodiment of the bright prospects of complementary and win-win cooperation between the two countries, but also, in itself, a step forward towards more inclusive and diversified global economic governance.

中澳自贸协定树立了亚太区域合作的成功典范。中澳同为世界主要经济体，但中国是最大的发展中国家，澳大利亚是成熟的发达经济体，两国文化背景迥异，发展水平不同，产业结构互补，在一些价值观念方面也存在差异。历经10年谈判，中澳最终达成一个全面、高质量和利益平衡的自贸协定，不仅折射出两国优势互补和合作共赢的广阔前景，其本身也是推动更具包容性、多元化全球经济治理的积极实践。

China-Australia FTA has made pragmatic explorations in many areas of opening-up. Take trade in services for example, which is a stumbling block in international trade negotiations. The two countries have vastly different administrative regimes and core concerns. But through candid and practical consultations, Australia finally agreed to open its services sector in a negative-list approach, while China, based on its WTO accession commitments, will open part of its services sector in a positive-list approach and commit to adopting a negative-list approach in future negotiations with Australia in this area.

中澳自贸协定在诸多开放领域进行了务实探索。以服务贸易这一国际经贸谈判难点为例，两国管理体制大相径庭，彼此各有核心关切。但中澳经过坦诚、务实的交流，澳方最终同意对中方以负面清单方式开放服务部门，中方则在入世承诺基础上，以正面清单方式向澳方开放部分服务部门，并承诺在未来通过负面清单模式与澳方开展服务贸易谈判。

China-Australia FTA is a major step towards Asia-Pacific economic integration. The 22nd APEC Economic Leaders Meeting in 2014 decided to launch the process of building the Asia-Pacific Free Trade Area (APFTA). It requires the concerted efforts of all parties to fulfill this vision. Now a free trade agreement has been signed between two major economies - China and Australia, and the two sides have agreed to jointly explore the further opening of the services sector by adopting a negative-list approach. It is the shared belief of the two countries that China-Australia FTA, once upgraded, will be a strong boost to the development of high-level economic and trade arrangement in the Asia-Pacific region, and play a leading and demonstration role in the further opening up of the region.

中澳自贸协定是亚太经济一体化进程中迈出的重要一步。2014年亚太经合组织第二十二次领导人非正式会议，决定启动亚太自贸区进程，实现这一愿景需要各方共同努力。目前，中澳两大经济体之间签署了自贸协定，双方还约定未来以“负面清单方式，共同探讨服务领域的开放升级。相信中澳自贸协定的“升级版，将有力促进亚太地区发展高水平的经贸安排，为推动本区域进一步开放发挥引领和示范效应。