Ms Julie Bishop (Curtin, Liberal Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

to Australia's economic and strategic interests. It is Australia's largest merchandise trading partner, our largest source of overseas students and our second-largest source of overseas visitors. In fact, last financial year, nearly one million Chinese visitors and tourists came to Australia, and they contributed $7 billion to our economy. That is a 32 per cent increase on the previous year. The member for Moore will be delighted to know that, over the same period, 40,000 Chinese visitors and tourists came to Western Australia, spending $207 million in Western Australia. I know that the tourist sector in Canning would have benefited from that.

This historic China-Australia Free Trade Agreement will lay the foundation for even stronger economic and investment relationships between us because it will allow for a range of industries and sectors to capitalise on the burgeoning Chinese middle class. For the first time, for example, China has guaranteed an open door for Australian-owned businesses to build, wholly own and operate restaurants and hotels in China, and there will be a similar deal for aged-care facilities and hospitals in certain locations.

Mr Perrett interjecting—

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