China, New Zealand agree to joint initiatives, free trade talks
NAN-F-17
Initiative
Wellington, March 27, 2017 (dpa/NAN) China and New Zealand have agreed to a number of joint initiatives on climate change, tourism and education, Prime Minister Bill English, said on Monday after meeting with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang.
Keqiang said that the two countries would also begin talks in April on how to upgrade their free trade agreement (FTA), describing the deal, which went into effect in 2008, as “an enormous success”.
“With the agreement in place, trade between New Zealand and China “has tripled,” reaching a high of 16.2 billion dollars in 2016.
“That trade creates “jobs and opportunities for people in both countries.
“An upgrade will ensure this momentum continues and ensure that the FTA remains a modern agreement that tackles barriers our exporters face.
“It will assist progress toward our target of 30 billion dollars two-way trade by 2020,” English said.
Compared with the other FTAs China has with all developed countries, the China-New Zealand FTA is one of most advanced, the premier said at a press conference and speaking through a translator.
“One third of New Zealand’s dairy products go to the Chinese markets and half of China’s foreign dairy imports come from New Zealand,” he said.
The two countries have also agreed to explore other “economic opportunities, such as China’s Belt and Road Initiative, a project to develop a “maritime silk road”.
“This maritime silk road will go through the South China Sea.
“Stability and peace in the South China Sea are good for all parties,” Keqiang said.
He said that each year there were over 100,000 merchant ships going through the sea with no incidents of piracy attacks.
The countries also agreed to increase the number of direct flights between China and New Zealand to 59 per week, up from 49.
After Australia, China is New Zealand’s second-largest trading partner.
According to a report from the prime minister’s office,in 2016, New Zealand saw visits from 400,000 Chinese tourists.
Li arrived in Wellington on Sunday and will travel to Auckland on Tuesday. (dpa/NAN)
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Edited by Celine-Damilola Oyewole/Abdullahi Yusuf