By Li Feng from People's Daily

China and Australia should intensify collaboration in politics, economy, culture as well as peoples based on their current sound ties, Australian experts on Chinese studies expressed their optimism over bilateral ties at a symposium held in Sydney on Friday.

“Australia-China relations are good overall”, said Jeffrey Riegel, Director of the China Studies Centre at the University of Sydney. Riegel believes that a solid relationship between China and Australia is in the best interests of Australia.

Having translated many Chinese works into English, such as the Annals of Lv Buwei (Lvshi Chunqiu) and Mozi, Rigel held that the sound bilateral ties should not be confined, since some Australians have shifted their focus to the Asia-Pacific region.

“They understand the needs to cooperate with China in ensuring the good development in the whole region,” he added.

Former Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr corroborated Riegel’s opinion with numbers. According to Carr, polling showed that 94 percent of 1,000 Chinese business leaders surveyed deem Australia as very favorable or favorable business location.

“Eighty-three percent of them views bilateral economic relationships as extremely important or important and 80 percent recognizes Australia’s significant role in the Asia-Pacific region,” said Carr.

Liu Qibao, head of the CPC Central Committee's Publicity Department, who also attended the symposium, explained that with China’s rapid development in recent years, more scholars are pursuing Chinese studies.

“Though far apart in geographic term, the Chinese and Australian people are no stranger to each other, thanks to the contribution of Australian sinologists,” Liu added.

Fascinated by China’s ancient history, glorious culture and breathtaking landscapes, David Goodman, a research fellow with Australian Academy of the Social Science, also called for more exchanges between both peoples in order to enhance mutual understanding.

A dozen Australian sinologists attended the symposium on the diversity of Chinese culture. They also discussed on deepening Sino-Australian youth exchanges, the development of Confucius Institutes in Australia and how to effectively promote cooperation between both think tanks and research institutions.