Sino-Australian ties on the upswing

China and Australia signed a preliminary free trade deal on Monday that will make 85 percent of all Australian exports to China tariff-free from the outset and raise it to 93 percent before 2019. The deal, once takes effect next year, would give Australia's service industry greater access to the Chinese market and its agricultural sector advantage over competitors such as the United States.

The importance of the deal can be gauged from the volume of trade between China and Australia, which grew from $86 million in 1972 when the countries established formal ties to $136 billion last year.

China and Australia have gone from strength to strength over the past more than four decades and China is now Australia's largest trading partner, largest export destination and largest source of imports. And President Xi Jinping's visit to Australia has not only boosted Sino-Australian ties, but also taken it to a new high level.