An upgrade to the China-New Zealand free-trade agreement taking effect on Thursday is expected to enhance trade links between the two countries. The two governments agreed in January last year to upgrade their free-trade pact.
Since the two nations signed the initial FTA in 2008, China had eliminated or reduced tariffs on 75 wood and paper products from New Zealand.
Since the beginning of this year, China also lifted duties on most of New Zealand's dairy products.
In 2021, bilateral two-way trade totaled NZ$37.7 billion in goods and services, up from NZ$31.3 billion in 2020, according to the New Zealand China Council.
The Upgrade Protocol of the China-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement will further expand the market opening of goods, services, investment and other areas between the two countries in the coming years, said the Ministry of Commerce in a statement posted online.
In addition to significantly facilitating trade, the ministry said the bilateral deal has added four new chapters, namely e-commerce, competition policy, government procurement, environment and trade. They are more in line with the needs of modern economic and trade development.
Regarding trade of goods, the upgraded FTA will see both countries open their markets for certain wood and paper products and optimize trade practices such as rules of origin, technical barriers to trade and Customs facilitation.
Foreign trade between China and New Zealand soared 36.4 percent year-on-year to $24.72 billion in 2021, data from the ministry showed.
Both China and New Zealand are champions of multilateralism and free trade. In the past few years, some countries have taken misguided measures such as unilateralism and trade protectionism, causing significant damage to the global trade. The upgrading of the FTA between China and New Zealand shows the firm determination of both sides to support multilateralism and free trade with concrete actions and the tremendous efforts made to build an open world economy.
