China FTA upgrade talks to begin next month

Talks on the much-anticipated upgrade to New Zealand’s free-trade agreement (FTA) with China will begin on April 25, Prime Minister Bill English says.

Mr English made the announcement following official talks with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang in Wellington today.

As well as agreeing on a date for FTA upgrade talks to start, the two leaders also revealed a number of other initiatives New Zealand and China will be cooperating on.

This includes access for chilled meat from 10 New Zealand meat processors, initially on a six-month trial with a view to later expanding trade. 

ExportNZ executive director Catherine Beard says chilled meat isn’t exported to China under present rules.

A climate change action plan was also agreed upon, which will enable closer cooperation as both countries make a transition to lower carbon economies.

The number of direct flights possible between China and New Zealand will increase from 49 to 59 under the Air Services Agreement.

Messrs English and Li also agreed to strengthen co-operation on judicial and law enforcement issues, to jointly fight corruption and transnational crime.

Mr English says the agreement to start FTA upgrade negotiations confirms the commitment of both countries to open trade and economic growth.

Since coming into force in 2008, two-way trade between New Zealand and China has tripled to $23 billion.

“An upgrade will ensure this momentum continues and ensure the FTA remains a modern agreement that tackles barriers our exporters face. It will assist progress toward our target of $30 billion two-way trade by 2020,” Mr English says.

“Premier Li and I also reiterated the value we see in people-to-people links between our two countries, including the nearly 35,000 Chinese students studying in New Zealand, and the 400,000 Chinese who visit annually."

Tourism Minister Paula Bennett says the 2019 China-New Zealand Year of Tourism initiative – a new international agreement that focuses on attracting high-value Chinese visitors to stay longer, spend more and travel independently – has the potential to add to the $1.7 billion a year Chinese visitors spend in New Zealand.

“Our focus now is on encouraging tourists to visit outside of the peak season and to explore our regions, as well as our most iconic destinations. With 409,000 Chinese visiting our shores last year there is an incredible amount of potential to deliver even more benefits to our national and regional economies by pursuing these goals.”

Last month, the International Visitor Survey showed spending reached $10.1 billion in the year to December 2016.

Other announcements from the meeting include:

• mutual recognition of trusted exporters, which will facilitate faster border clearance times for the recognised New Zealand exporters who already account for nearly half of New Zealand’s $9.4 billion of goods exports to China
• frameworks to explore new economic opportunities, including on China’s Belt and Road Initiative, aimed at closer co-operation on regional infrastructure projects, and e-commerce, a growing platform that allows New Zealand companies to sell directly to Chinese consumers
• enhanced co-operation in a number of areas including agriculture, sustainable fisheries, in the South Pacific, environmental issues, education and training, international development, health research, and intellectual property