President Xi welcomed by Australian PM Abbott, Governor-General Cosgrove
習主席歡迎澳大利亞總理艾伯特訪華

President Xi Jinping has met senior Australian officials in the nation's capital Canberra, on Monday.

Xi was greeted by Governor-General Peter Cosgrove in an elaborate welcome ceremony, topped by a 21-gun salute. Prime Minister Tony Abbott later welcomed the president to Australia's parliament. The two leaders declared they will lift bilateral ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership.

In a statement, Abbott said Australia has successfully completed a free-trade deal with China after nine years of negotiations. President Xi will sign the deal later Monday after he addresses the Australian Parliament. Under the deal 85 percent of all Australian exports will enter China tariff-free.

A feasibility study on such a pact, carried out in 2006, say the deal could increase the value of trade by $18 billion over a decade. The two-way flow of goods and services between the countries was valued at more than $130 billion last year.