CANBERRA -- Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott met Monday with top Chinese entrepreneurs from the China Entrepreneur Club (CEC) who visited Australia in search of business opportunities, a CEC spokesperson told Xinhua Tuesday.

The Australian prime minister was highly appreciative of the entrepreneurship shown by the members of the CEC, whose 46 member companies contribute about 2 trillion yuan annually to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of China.

Abbott said he believed the business leaders have helped to raise the living standards of the people in China, bringing benefits not only to the Chinese public but also to many people around the world.

He pointed out that Australia and China share some similarities with common interests and aspirations, which will lead to more win- win outcomes in bilateral relations.

The CEC delegation, consisting of 20 successful CEC members, is the first high-level business delegation which has visited Australia after the two countries announced to have substantively concluded their free trade agreement negotiations in November.

Ma Weihua, a Chinese banker and head of the CEC delegation, said a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the two countries will surely further promote bilateral economic and trade exchanges. However, it is the businesses in the two countries which will actually implement and materialize the agreement.

Prior to Australia, the delegation had visited Singapore.