Australia, China sign deals worth US$10 billion

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd extended a warm welcome to China's Vice-President Xi Jinping in Canberra, entertaining some 300 Chinese delegates with jokes in Mandarin, as he spoke of the booming economic ties with Australia's biggest trading partner.

Xi, who is tipped to succeed President Hu Jintao in the next two years, is the first high-level Chinese official to visit Australia since the jailing of Rio Tinto executive Stern Hu in Shanghai last March.

Xi said the relationship between China and Australia had set "an example" for other countries which have different political systems, cultural traditions and levels of economic development.

He said Australia and China should boost strategic cooperation on energy and resources and push for a free trade agreement at an "early date" because this would be of "strategic interest to both countries".