Australia's Trade Minister Andrew Robb expects a free trade deal to be finalised with China within days.
His coalition government has signed off on a series of free trade deals with Japan and South Korea, and has been negotiating an agreement with China for some years.
Australian Trade Minister Andrew Robb. Photo: AFP
Both Canberra and Beijing would like to use the visit of China's president Xi Jinping's to Australia next week for the G20 summit to sign the free trade deal, the ABC reports.
After nearly a decade of talks, the Australian and Chinese delegations are down to just two sticking points.
Mr Robb would not be pushed on what those points may be.
"There are only two actually but I'm not going to get into those because I think it's quite unproductive to have a negotiation in public," he told reporters in Beijing.
Mr Robb said he saw no reason why the agreement would not be signed next week.
"There is very strong intentions on both sides I think to make that deadline but a deal's never done until it's done - I've learnt that in business and in politics - so anything could happen but I can see no reason wny it won't be."
New Zealand's free trade agreement with China came into force in 2008.
