Australian Trade Minister Don Farrell told Euronews's flagship morning programme Europe Today that his message for the Europeans when dealing with China over trade is simple: “patience”.
“Patience is a good first start with the Chinese,” he said. “One of the things that we've been very focused on is as a middle power in the region is ensuring that we project our policies of a peaceful region."
“That's been very good for Australia in recent months, particularly with the troubles around the rest of the world. We've been able to continue pretty much uninterrupted our trade relationships, and that's the way we'd like to keep it.”
The comments come as the EU is in the throes of figuring out its trade position with both China and the US.
Last week European Commissioners gathered to discuss how to navigate the delicate EU-China relationship. Last year, according to the European Commission, the bloc registered a record-high €359.9 billion trade deficit with Beijing, with Brussels still pursuing efforts to reduce its dependence on China rather than sever economic ties altogether.
