CHINA and Australia resumed free-trade talks yesterday, after a delay of more than a year.

Australia said the move proved their trading relationship had not been hurt by the arrest of four Rio Tinto employees in Shanghai.

Relations plummeted in June 2009 over a failed bid by China's state-owned Chinalco to buy a US$19.5 billion stake in mining giant Rio Tinto, and were further strained by the arrest of the four, including Australian citizen Stern Hu.

Australian Trade Minister Simon Crean said he had not been informed about a trial date for Hu, who has been indicted on charges of bribery and stealing commercial secrets.

"So far as the trading relationship is concerned, both countries understand the interdependence of each country on the other. There is a genuine desire to deepen and diversify that interdependency. That's why the talks are back on track," Crean said in Canberra.

More than 30 Chinese officials are attending the two days of talks in Canberra.

China and Australia began talks on a free-trade deal in April 2005, but they stalled after the negotiations in Beijing in December, 2008.

The two are aiming to reach a deal which could inject up to US$124 billion into Australia's resource-rich economy over coming decades, according to some estimates.

China is Australia's biggest trading partner, with two-way trade worth about A$83 billion (US$74 billion) in 2008-09, and China buying more than A$25 billion worth of Australian iron ore and coal.

Crean said agriculture remained the most serious stumbling block.

"On agriculture, it remains sensitive and difficult," he said. "We understand the sensitivities in China, but we keep pointing out that we have been able to negotiate those sensitivities with other developing countries."

China also offered huge opportunities for Australian financial services expertise, he said.

Deputy Reserve Bank Governor Ric Battellino on Tuesday said Australia's economy was experiencing a boom in mining and associated investment as the effects of the global financial crisis weakened and China's economy strengthened.