China urges Australia to treat Chinese companies fairly

BEIJING, May 18 (Xinhua) -- China urges Australia to treat Chinese enterprises fairly and stop interfering with the investment and trade cooperation between the two countries, the country's top economic planner said Tuesday.

The Australian side has unreasonably restricted and suppressed projects and existing achievements of bilateral investment and trade cooperation, damaging mutual trust between the two countries and seriously affecting the confidence of enterprises, said Jin Xiandong, spokesperson for the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC).

Jin made the remarks in response to a previous NDRC decision to indefinitely suspend all activities under the framework of the China-Australia Strategic Economic Dialogue.

"China has to make a necessary and legitimate response, and Australia must bear full responsibility for this," said Jin.

He urged the Australian side to cease its interference and take actions to promote the healthy development of China-Australia relations.