Treasurer Joe Hockey says China has made it clear the free trade agreement with Australia won't be renegotiated.
Mr Hockey spoke to Chinese finance minister Lou Jiwei on the sidelines of this weekend's G20 finance ministers meeting in Turkey.
"It was made explicitly clear that the free trade agreement will not be renegotiated," Mr Hockey told AAP from Istanbul on Sunday.
Trade Minister Andrew Robb is worried how China would view any moves in Australia to legislate for tougher labour market testing following debate on the trade deal between the two nations.
The Abbott government insists such legislation is unnecessary anyway because employers are already required to look for Australian workers before bringing in foreigners - under rules set by Labor - and has slammed the "disingenuous nonsense" being spread by unions on the matter.
"To make that sort of change will be seen by China as directed at them," Mr Robb told ABC TV.
The minister says the clauses in the trade deal he sealed are the same as arrangements set up by Labor for enterprise migration agreements.
But senior Labor frontbencher Mark Butler says while there is a strong level of support for a FTA with China within the opposition, the party is not going to wave it through without a thorough examination of its provisions.
"I think Tony Abbott should take a mature approach and sit down with Bill Shorten to work through these concerns," he told Sky News.
Greens leader Richard Di Natale also supports free trade as long as long as Australia gets a good deal out of it.
"To adopt this sort of notion that any deal is a good deal ignores the fact the detail that determines whether we get a good outcome," he told Sky News.
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