Beijing and Canberra signed ChAFTA on June 17, it is intended to boost trade and stimulate additional mutual investment. The two countries must now finalize the domestic legal and legislative processes for the treaty to come into force.
"A deal is a deal. To amend one part is to reopen it all and we won't do that because it would put Australian businesses, Australian exports and Australian jobs at risk," Abbott said, as quoted by the Australian Financial Review newspaper, answering opposition criticism of the ChAFTA and intentions to oppose some points of the treaty.
Under ChAFTA, over 85 percent of trade between the two countries will be tariff-free during the initial, partial implementation of the treaty. After the agreement's full implementation, Australia will export 95 percent without tariff, thus providing an expected 11.1 percent boost in exported goods by 2035.
