Australia has sent a private trade delegation to China to boost their bilateral ties.

The group, consisting of more than 200 delegates composed of exporters, agricultural producers and state ministers from Queensland, will be in Shanghai to solidify trade relationships with the country.

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The delegation known as "AccessChina" departed from Wellacamp Airport, which is the facility's first overseas passenger mission.

Among various members of the delegation is Qantas Airways Ltd., which is planning to boost its freight capacity in Asia.

Qantas Freight will also be holding a networking dinner. Ben Lyons, the leader of the group, said the dinner will give them an opportunity to provide more information about their businesses to the Shanghai business community.

The agribusiness units of Australia and New Zealand Bank and National Australia Bank also form part of the group.

Australia is pushing to become the food basket of Asia,  as it aims to take advantage of its favorable weather conditions to sell agricultural produce to the Asian countries.

Apart from agriculture, the delegation also has representatives from other industries, such as education, health, tourism and aged care.

The delegation will visit various sites, including the Shanghai Electric, Yangshan Deepwater port and Hangzhou Campus of Alibaba Group Holding.

The delegation comes at a time when the trade relation between China and Australia are mildly strained. China recently held 18 employees of an Australian casino firm in Macau. It was reported, though, that no charges have been pressed against the detainees so far. 

TagsAustralia, Qantas, AccessChina