Complementing the ATCG are consultations with individual sectors on specific priorities for the negotiation. Industry is also making its own strategic linkages with counterparts overseas. We are hoping that this meeting of farm leaders will convey a positive message to Cairns Group ministers, and a wider audience, about the urgent need for and benefits that will flow from trade liberalisation. In addition to the Cairns Group, there are other significant issues wrapped up in the WTO which have major implications for Australia's rural community. These negotiations offer a unique opportunity to address existing trading problems, secure new market access, and achieve commitments which provide a substantial degree of transparency and security in future trading conditions.
China is one of the few major economies which is outside the system of world trade rules.
It is in the interests of China, Australia, and the WTO that China becomes a WTO member. That is why Australia strongly supports China's early membership. It will be an important step in China's integration with the world trading system and the region, and it will encourage China to persist with market reforms. Australia and other countries have stressed to China that accession must be on a basis of an appropriate level of market access opening for both goods and services, and a strong level of commitment to the WTO rules. I had substantive discussions on the accession with Chinese leaders during my visit to Beijing last September, stressing this point.