Excellent state of the bilateral economic relationship One of my first major duties upon becoming Trade Minister just over a year ago was to deliver the opening address at the Australia China Trade and Investment Summit here in Melbourne. Coinciding with President Jiang Zemin's historic visit to Australia, the Summit was an important milestone in our bilateral economic relationship. Never before had so many business and government leaders from Australia and China come together to discuss our commercial future. A more significant symbol of growth and maturity in the trading relationship would be hard to find. In the year since that important occasion, trade and investment links between Australia and China have forged ahead.
China is now our third largest trading partner and third largest export destination.
That our commercial ties are flourishing is due largely to the efforts of businesspeople like you. Primary products continue to lie at the core of our exports, accounting for around 60 per cent of the total. China is Australia's largest market for wool and an important destination for Australian wheat and other food exports. Resources and energy products, such as iron ore, crude petroleum, alumina and coal, are also important pillars of the trading relationship. We remain optimistic that liquefied natural gas will join this list before too much longer.