SYDNEY, Oct 30 (Reuters) - China called on Friday for an urgent resolution of issues that stand in the way of a Sino-Australian free-trade agreement.
"We should have a sense of urgency to resolve them (hurdles)," First Vice-Premier Li Keqiang said in a speech to the Australia China Business Council in Sydney.
Chinese state-owned companies are eager to buy into Australian mining assets to secure supplies of raw materials in its rapidly growing economy, the world's third largest.
China is currently Australia's biggest trading partner in terms of two-way trade.
(Reporting by Michael Perry, editing by Mark Bendeich)