Australian state premier brokers trade deal with Chinese energy consortium

MELBOURNE -- Australia's Victorian premier has brokered a million dollar trade deal with a Chinese energy consortium, which will create 200 new jobs in Melbourne.

On Tuesday, Victoria's Premier Daniel Andrews, who is on a week-long trade mission in China, announced a deal with RayGen Resources and its partner company JuYe Solar.

The deal is expected to produce 200 jobs in Victoria, with the company investing more than $1.8 million to build a manufacturing plant in Blackburn, an eastern suburb of Melbourne.

The plant will build receivers for concentrated solar photovoltaic (CSPV) systems.

Andrews said the agreement reinforced the state's links with China as an invaluable trading partner and the "mutual prosperity it brings" to both regions.

The premier hinted there would be more business deals settled in coming days.

"We've got a full program of meetings, and lots of good news to announce," Andrews told Melbourne radio from Beijing on Tuesday.

Andrews said his trip to China was strictly business.

"Junkets? If you want to do business with China you have to come here, you have to show that you're serious," he said.

With the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement (ChAFTA) in place, Andrews encouraged his fellow state government ministers to travel to China to foster a better working relationship.

"This is a massive nation, it is a rapidly changing economy and there is every reason for every minister to be here to talk about the possibilities," he said.

Earlier on Monday, the premier toured Beijing's Temple of Heaven with his fellow delegates, and later hosted a "Tasting Victoria" lunch for some of China's most decorated tourism organizations and airlines.