The Inaugural Meeting of the China-Australia High-Level Dialogue was held in Beijing from December 3 to 5, 2014. The meeting was co-chaired by former Chinese Foreign Minister Mr. Li Zhaoxingand former Australian Treasurer Mr. Peter Costello. The delegations fromtwo sides were composed of senior governmental officials and representatives from relevant research institutions, media,enterprises and social organizations.

       Under thetheme of “Implementing the Consensus Reached by the Two Leaders and Starting a New Journey of China-Australia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership”, the delegates of two sides held discussions and exchanged ideas candidly and openly on how to promote the China-Australia relations on every front under the new global and regional situations. Both sides spoke highly of President Xi Jinping’srecent state visit to Australia which was ofgreat significance in strengthening the China-Australia bilateral relations.Both sides agreed that the establishment of China-Australia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and the finalization of the negotiations on the Free Trade Agreement willoffer extensive opportunities for the furtherdevelopment of the bilateral relations. Based on the principles of mutual respect, mutual benefit and win-win cooperation, both sides need to enhance exchanges and dialogue, and work hard to increase mutual trust, upgrade the level of mutually beneficial cooperation and enrich the content of the partnership.