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Trade deal to boost WA

WA is set to be the nation's biggest winner from a free trade deal between Australia and China with skills gained by workers in the mining boom to translate into even more jobs over the coming decade.

Tony Abbott and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping are set to sign the deal within a week, with the WA services sector that grew up around the iron ore and LNG booms to gain vital access to the Chinese market.

Trade Minister Andrew Robb, who described negotiations as being at the "very sharp end", said the deal promised to be the most important signed by Australia with another nation.

China was already Australia's biggest trading partner with two-way trade of $150 billion but "thousands of opportunities" could open in a deal that would deliver its biggest gains in the services sector around mining, energy and agriculture.

"If we can open up materially a whole new flank, especially in services, but also improve the traditional trade in agriculture and resources and energy, then this is huge," Mr Robb said.

"This is the biggest deal we have done by a long shot in terms of its implications for extending our relationship with China."

The mining construction boom, which has underpinned the WA economy, is coming to an end even as exports ramp up but it also helped drive WA's expertise in the resources services sector.

He said a trade deal that slashed red tape and other barriers to Australian firms looking to operate in China as it transitioned would give another boost to the economy.

Premier Xi is due to address Parliament next Monday after the G20 meeting in Brisbane.

But concerns have already been raised that the Government will make it easier for Chinese workers to enter Australia to work on major projects.

Mr Robb said there was no scope for wages to be undercut but Labor's WA spokeswoman Alannah MacTiernan said there were problems in the recent Australia-South Korea trade agreement.

She said there was an "asymmetry" between the rights given to South Korean workers in Australia and what Australians faced in South Korea. Replicating those rights in an Australia-China trade deal would ultimately hurt WA workers, she said.