Visiting New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Phil
Goff said yesterday that New Zealand hopes to become the first
developed country to conclude a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with
China.
"The focus of this visit is to promote the early and successful
outcome of the FTA," he said at a press conference in Beijing. "The
FTA will strengthen and draw closer relations between the two
countries and the two peoples."
The ninth round of the FTA negotiation between the two countries
wrapped up this October in Wellington. According to China's
Ministry of Commerce, the two sides had increased consensus on the
trade of products and services, investment, intellectual property
rights, resolution of disputes, rules of origins, customs
cooperation, technical barriers and other issues.
China is New Zealand's fourth-largest market. The goods trade
between the two nations has been growing rapidly at an average
annual rate of about 37 percent since 1995.
"This is an exciting time in the relationship between our two
countries. The two-way goods trade is growing well," Goff said.
"New Zealand has benefited from the manufacturing industry in
China, since the products are of good quality and competitive
prices," he added.
China has exported electrical home appliances, garments and
furniture to New Zealand and imported raw materials including wood,
pulp, wool and fish from the island nation.
"The outcome of the negotiations will deliver zero tariff to
industries of the two countries, although there are some sensitive
commodities that will allow for a period of time to adjust to the
change," Goff said.
"There are also some new fields in the negotiations, such as
service sectors and government procurement," he said, adding that
negotiations on these sectors may become examples for other
countries.
Premier Wen Jiabao said during his visit to New Zealand
this April that the negotiations had entered into a crucial stage
and the two sides encountered some difficulties in agricultural and
service areas, but "these are not insurmountable difficulties."
Wen and New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark also agreed
during his visit that the two sides are to conclude the
negotiations on FTA in one or two years.
"A high quality FTA between our two countries will bring mutual
benefit to our peoples, including Chinese and New Zealand farmers.
Our dairy sectors are complementary," Goff said.
New Zealand was the first country to conclude WTO accession
negotiations with China, the first developed country to recognize
China as a market economy and the first developed country to begin
FTA negotiations with China.
"New Zealand is keen to add a fourth 'first' to that list, to be
the first developed country to conclude a FTA with China," Goff
said.
(China Daily November 11, 2006)
