Premier Wen Jiabao's visit to Australia has added tangible achievements to China's spring diplomatic push.

China and Australia signed two agreements in Canberra on Monday one on nuclear co-operation and the other on uranium transfer.

The two deals mark a reward for the "remarkable transformation" of bilateral relations.

They have upgraded Sino-Australian ties to a new level. Different from its Western allies, which continue to ban sales of fissionable materials to China, Australia put its faith in China's commitment to nuclear non-proliferation.

Australia has 19 bilateral nuclear safeguard agreements, covering 36 countries including the United States, France, Britain, Mexico, Japan, Finland and the Republic of Korea.

A signatory to the Treaty on Non-proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, China resolutely supports international non-proliferation efforts.

China has been honouring the landmark document, devoting itself to preventing the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology, promoting co-operation in the peaceful use of nuclear energy and furthering the goal of achieving nuclear disarmament and general and complete disarmament.

China is looking for more clean energy such as nuclear energy to reduce dependence on coal and oil.

The two agreements show Australia's recognition of China's attitude and efforts in this regard. Leaders of the two countries are resolved to develop co-operation.

Majoring in geology from 1960-65, Premier Wen was interested in the mineral wealth he saw in the country. This is the direction he deems Sino-Australian co-operation should go in the future.

Wen is the first serving Chinese premier to visit Australia in 18 years. However, exchanges of high-level visits have been a feature of bilateral relations. President Hu Jintao visited the country in 2003, and Australian Prime Minister John Howard came to China last year.

Following Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference Jia Qinglin, who wrapped up his visits to Viet Nam, Malaysia and Indonesia, Wen's tours in Australia, Fiji, New Zealand and Cambodia will consolidate our relations with these countries.

The two agreements China and Australia have clinched will open the door for wider co-operation, especially in the area of trade, with one as a rich reservoir of natural resources and the other as a stable and growing market. Resource trade accounts for 60 per cent of Sino-Australian two-way trade, which reached US$27.3 billion in 2005.

The two governments have been working seriously to push bilateral relations forward. Their leaders have held annual meetings since the late 1990s.

China and Australia are in a region that is undergoing fast and fascinating changes. The benefits of co-operation are clear.

Furthermore, they have similar concerns and hopes for stability, co-operation and sustainable development in the region.

Australian Prime Minister asserted that his country will "work closely with China to pursue our shared goal of a stable and prosperous region."

"Of all the important relationships that Australia has with other countries, none has been more greatly transformed over the last 10 years than our relationship with China," Howard said of bilateral ties, hailing China's emergence as a regional and global power as a positive development.

A realistic response to other countries' development will facilitate healthy progress of bilateral relations.

Among developed countries, Australia was the second to recognize China as an economy of full market status.

By signing the two important agreements, it is clear China-Australia relations are proceeding smoothly.

Source: China Daily