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BEIJING, March 24 (Xinhua) -- For Zheng He, who spent five years in Australia before returning to his hometown of Hefei in eastern China, juicy Australian beef is one of the things he misses most.
Beef is a regular ingredient in China's hugely popular hotpot. Almost every hotpot shop puts some type of Australian beef on its menu, but diners often doubt whether it comes from genuine Aussie cattle as the restaurants claim.
"Beef served in Australia is fresher, and the method of cutting is also different from here," said Zheng, who worked part-time at restaurants while studying accounting at Edith Cowan University in Perth.
Diners' doubts about whether their beef is from Australia or not should dissipate as China imports more live cattle from Australia. In February, nearly 1,200 Australian cattle arrived at Shidao port in eastern Shandong province, China's first live cattle imports from Australia by sea.
"It is a concrete step by Shandong to implement the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement," said the Shandong Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau, which invited multiple media outlets to observe Shidao port, the first Chinese port to receive live cattle from Australia.
China is Australia's largest trading partner. A free trade agreement between the two countries, known as ChAFTA, took effect in December 2015. The cattle imports show the booming trade between them.
"ChAFTA has been implemented step by step. Without it, bilateral trade would have been challenged more by the sluggish global economy," said Bai Ming, a researcher with the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation under the Ministry of Commerce.
Since coming into effect, the China-Australia free trade agreement has yielded continuous dividends, as evidenced by the more than 50-percent year-on-year growth in Australian exports of milk powder, red wine and dietary supplements to China, which are among the most sought-after overseas products for Chinese consumers, said Chinese Premier Li Keqiang in a signed article carried by a leading Australian newspaper on Wednesday.
Li began his five-day official visit to Australia on Wednesday. Free trade is high on the agenda of both sides during the visit, the first to the country by a Chinese premier in 11 years.
"Our free trade agreement provides a foundation for a strong and growing economic relationship," said Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull on Thursday in talks with Li in Canberra.
Shandong, China's third-largest provincial economy, has seen tariffs on exports and imports with Australia reduced by 440 million yuan (64 million U.S. dollars) since late 2015, according to local customs.
The deal also benefits Chinese exporters. Shandong, home to China's liquid-crystal-display television giants Haier and Hisense, saw its LCD TV exports to Australia jump by 72 percent, said local customs.
The two countries should expand two-way opening-up in the service sectors and tap the great potential in green industries such as new energy development, said Bai.
"The two countries have highly complementary economies and development strategies," said Liu Qing, head of the Asia-Pacific department at the China Institute of International Studies (CIIS), who expects to see an alignment between the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative and Australia's ambitious development plan for its north.
"The China-Australia Free Trade Agreement has greatly strengthened trade and investment between our two countries, driving growth and job creation. We continue to see record bilateral investment, education exchanges and a booming tourism sector with close to 2 million journeys between our two countries in 2016," said Turnbull in a press release.
The Chinese premier's visit is set to provide new impetus to bilateral trade, investment and overall relations.
