Thursday, April 15, 2004
New Zealand, China to open free trade agreement talks next year
Associated Press Wellington, April 14
China and New Zealand will begin talks next year on a formal free trade agreement, which could provide significant benefits to both economies, Prime Minister Helen Clark said on Wednesday.
New Zealand is "the first developed economy" invited to negotiate such a deal by the rapidly growing Asian giant, Clark said. The two disproportionately sized countries have reached agreement on a formal trade and economic cooperation framework, to be signed in June.
Talks for the framework deal began shortly after Chinese President Hu Jintao visited New Zealand last October. "A full (trade) agreement will unlock very significant growth opportunities for both countries," Clark said, adding it was "an exciting development."
She said New Zealand had a reputation as "a solid partner" with China stretching back 30 years to the 1973 diplomatic recognition of the communist state.
New Zealand was also the first nation to sign a World Trade Organisation accession deal with China, which had helped its profile in Beijing.
Trade Negotiations Minister Jim Sutton said a free trade deal would be worth "hundreds of millions of dollars" in benefits to New Zealand, which exports farm and manufactured products and provides services which "compliment" China's needs. A free trade deal would cut tariff barriers to trade and sharply reduce Chinese tariffs ranging up to 38 per cent on some New Zealand farm products.
New Zealand exported 1.5 billion New Zealand dollars ($970 million) of goods to China and imported NZ$2.7 billion ($1.75 billion) of goods from China in the 12 months ended June 2003.
"New Zealand's small size offers China an opportunity to take its first steps on an FTA ... that would involve a less complex negotiation than ... with larger trading partners," he said.
Sutton said Beijing had not made changing New Zealand's substantial trade ties with Taiwan any part of the agreement for trade talks "but we are committed to a One China policy, and nothing we do here will change that." "Taiwan is an important economy with which we have an important trading relationship. That will continue, but it won't interfere with this opportunity," he said.
Labor and environmental standards would be raised in the negotiations and he was "optimistic that environmental issues will be included" in any trade deal.
"China is sincerely concerned for the environment," said Sutton, who has visited the mainland at least nine times. He did not expect human rights issues to intrude into the trade negotiations, but said these would continue to be raised in talks with Beijing.
Clark said the two states had "some solid disagreements ... but nonetheless (China) wants to operate as an Asia-Pacific partner" with New Zealand.
© Hindustan Times Ltd. 2004.