Prime Minister Tony Abbott says the Chinese free trade agreement is too important for Labor to undermine it with what he has called short-term, xenophobic politics.

Labor and the unions have been highly critical of the deal, arguing the removal of certain skills assessments for Chinese tradesmen seeking work in Australia puts safety at risk.

"These free trade agreements are too important for our country, they're too important for our businesses and too important for our children to be sacrificed at the altar of short-term xenophobic politics," Mr Abbott said.

Mr Abbott said Labor should not discard its historical links with Asia.

"It was, after all, Gough Whitlam who signed the first trade agreement with China 42 years ago last Friday," he said.

"Likewise it was a vision for deep engagement with the region that drove Bob Hawke and Paul Keating."

Treasurer Joe Hockey agrees.

"It is hugely important for Australia to have a free trade agreement with China, they are our biggest trading partner," he said.

"They have made a huge, very significant, positive contribution to the Australian economy over the last few years, when the rest of the world has clapped out.

"I say emphatically to Bill Shorten, please Mr Shorten, stand up to the unions, do not give in to the xenophobic demands of the CFMEU, the union that is helping to hold you up in the Labor Party.

"Do not give in to them and simply try and roll the free trade agreement with China, because ultimately that will cost Australians jobs."

Opposition spokeswoman Penny Wong said Labor will continue to scrutinise the deal and the Coalition should "stop playing the race card".

"Labor's concerns about the agreement are about jobs and the inclusion of an investor-state dispute settlement mechanism," she said.

"There's no place for racism in the debate over the China-Australia free trade agreement."

Michael O'Connor from the CFMEU said the Coalition is just trying to avoid scrutiny of a bad deal.

"We're a union that fights racism everywhere we go — we fight racism here and we fight racism abroad," he said.

"In fact I'd back our record on fighting xenophobia and fighting racism against the Liberal Party's any day."