Victoria ready to become China's gateway to Australia: state premier

Australia's Victorian state premier has expressed his wish for his state to become the gateway to Australia for Chinese trade and tourism.

Premier Daniel Andrews, in the middle of a seven-day business trip to China, talked up the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement' s (ChAFTA) ability to further enhance bilateral trade relations.

"The historic China-Australia Free Trade Agreement should give all of us great optimism, great confidence, and a great sense of possibility about the Victoria and Australia-China relationship," Andrews said in a speech to Chinese business leaders on Tuesday night, published in the Australian media on Wednesday.

Andrews is planning a bold push to capitalise on China's burgeoning interest in the region, with new data revealing on Wednesday that food and fibre exports to China reached 2 billion U. S. dollars last year.

The figures, from the Victorian Food and Fibre Export Report 2014-15, showed a major increase in exports to China over the past 12 months.

Wool exports were the star performer at 750 million U.S. dollars, followed by meat (318 million U.S. dollars), wine (64 million U.S. dollars) and horticulture (27 million U.S. dollars).

On Tuesday, the state government announced a partnership with Air China that will result in daily, direct flights between Beijing and Melbourne from October 25.

"This will mean more visitors, more tourists and more produce coming from Victoria to China and that's great for jobs," Andrews said.

Andrews signalled the government's full-growth strategy for the region will be tabled this week as he continues to his tour.

Fairfax Media reported on Wednesday that a sister-state relationship with China's flourishing southwest is on the cards, as well as annual visits by the Victorian premier and state cabinet ministers to the region. Endi