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New Zealand to invest $17m on expo pavilion

By Ma Zhenhuan (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-04-17 07:38

New Zealand will invest tens of millions of dollars to promote and construct the New Zealand pavilion for the upcoming World Expo 2010 in Shanghai, its prime minister said yesterday.

John Key, prime minister of New Zealand, said the NZ$30 million ($17 million) investment was five times the amount New Zealand spent when it attended the previous world expo in Aichi, Japan.

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He said the Shanghai Expo was a golden opportunity to showcase goods from New Zealand, and he will lead a business delegation to China during the expo.

He regards the free trade agreement (FTA) between China and New Zealand as a high quality one benefiting both sides, saying his country will continue to promote free trade with China.

Trade between the two countries has increased since last year, when China and New Zealand inked the FTA in April, 2008. New Zealand is the first developed nation to sign an FTA with China.

China is already a vital economic partner for New Zealand and rates as its second largest source of imports and third largest trading partner. Trade between China and New Zealand is valued at more than NZ$9 billion per year.

New Zealand's exports to China have more than quadrupled in the last 10 years, with particularly strong growth of 35 percent in 2008, when the two sides inked the FTA agreement.