The federal government’s push to seal a free trade agreement with China before the end of the year is likely to end in failure, according to The Australian Financial Review.
A strategy update from Beijing on Tuesday failed to mention the possibility of an Australian deal as a priority for 2014, instead the Commerce Ministry is pinning its focus on deals with neighbouring countries South Korea and Japan.
Mei Xingyu, a researcher at a think tank affiliated with the Commerce Ministry, told the paper an Australian FTA was more than likely to be put on the backburner.
“If China was positive on reaching an agreement this year the spokesman would have mentioned it,” he said, according to the AFR.
Mr Mei suggested the Abbott government had “created too many unexpected problems” for Beijing to put a deal near the top of its agenda.
