Investment future bright

Former Aussie PM Rudd says trade agreement with China key

Chinese investors have a promising future in Australia, former Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd told China Daily on Wednesday.

This year marks the 40th anniversary of the establishment of China-Australia diplomatic relations, and last year bilateral trade reached more than $110 billion.

Concerns arose recently over the resistance Chinese investors face in the country, and analysts warned that the bilateral trade tie is warmer than the investment boom.

During a visit to Australia in April, Chinese Minister of Commerce Chen Deming said that the country's recent rejection of a bid by leading Chinese telecommunication company Huawei for an Australian internet broadband project is "unfair".

Rudd said many people have ignored the fact that Australia is still one of China's major overseas investment destinations, and he stressed that Australia attracted investments of more than $19 billion from China in 2010 alone.

"An early signing of a bilateral free trade agreement will be applaudable to promote direct investment in various fields," he said.

Before his trip to China this month, Rudd stepped into the spotlight when he responded to a request through social media to help two Chinese students who were assaulted on April 23 while riding on a train from Sydney. Chinese micro bloggers asked Rudd to contact key officials from both countries, including Australia's minister for immigration and the deputy secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Some Australian authorities of higher levels had not heard of the story until Rudd contacted them about the Weibo story. "The police knew about it, and they acted quickly," Rudd said.

The case triggered widespread fury online and concerns from China over the safety of international students in Australia. Rudd responded to the concerns with posts in Mandarin, explaining that the violence was not directed at Chinese students.

Rudd said "Australia is still a safe place" for international students.

Rudd has gained around 160,000 followers since he joined the Chinese social network weibo.com. On Monday, a post that featured a picture of him looking at a Chinese dictionary with his youngest son received more than 2,000 comments and was forwarded more than 1,500 times in one day.

You may contact the writers at zhangyunbi@chinadaily.com.cn and wanghui@chinadaily.com.cn