Australia and China have signed a gas export deal worth up to USD 45 billion, even as they agreed to hold a high-level annual security dialogue, marking a new high in the bilateral relationship.
Besides, Chinese leader Hu Jintao also backed a Sydney Declaration on climate change following his meeting with the Australian Prime Minister John Howard.
Welcoming China’s ascension as Australia’s largest trading partner, Howard nominated the project to supply liquefied natural gas, and the 90,000 Chinese students studying in Australia as tangible evidence of a relationship whose “best years still lie ahead of us”, according to media reports.
Besides the LNG project between Woodside Energy and the PetroChina company, the key trading agreements signed on Thursday also included the joint development of the Karara iron ore project between Ansteel and Gindalbie Metals.
The LNG project is believed to be Australia’s biggest export deal.
Howard received a firm hug from Hu after he closed their joint press conference with an assurance that the three-way security dialogue between Australia, the US and Japan to be held on Saturday was not aimed at China.
Speaking after his meeting with Howard, Hu declared the relationship with Australia “has a solid political foundation, profound popular support and huge potential for future growth”.