China, NZ envision broader FTA

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (R) holds talks with New Zealand Prime Minister John Key in Beijing, capital of China, April 18, 2016. [Photo/Xinhua]

China and New Zealand will increase agricultural cooperation and upgrade their free trade agreement to further cut tariffs and boost exchanges.

Premier Li Keqiang on Monday met with New Zealand Prime Minister John Key, who will end his six-day visit on Friday.

China will work to expand trade within the framework of the FTA and create conditions to begin negotiations on broadening the agreement, Li said. China will also expand cooperation with the Oceanian partner in whole industrial chains of agricultural and animal husbandry investments, food safety and other areas, he added.

In 2004, New Zealand was the first developed country to recognize China's full market economy status, and it signed a free trade agreement with China in April 2008, which took effect six months later.

Bilateral trade has seen double-digit growth over the past eight years, and China became New Zealand's biggest export market in 2014.

Key said New Zealand will enhance cooperation with China in agriculture and animal husbandry, and will work to upgrade the FTA.

The two countries' industrial complementarity will continue to increase their trade, as China, a manufacturer, needs to import many agricultural goods from the partner, said Chen Fengying, a global economy researcher at the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations.