On 26 Jan., China and New Zealand signed the “Protocol between the Government of the People's Republic of China and the Government of New Zealand on the Upgrading of the Free Trade Agreement between the Government of the People's Republic of China and the Government of New Zealand (中華人民共和國政府與新西蘭政府關于升級<中華人民共和國政府與新西蘭政府自由貿易協定>的議定書).
For the trade of goods, the Protocol adds the market opening for certain wood and paper products and further optimizes trade rules like rules of origin, technical barriers to trade and customs facilitation. For service trade, on the basis of Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, China further expands its opening-up to New Zealand in areas of aviation, education, finance, elderly care and passenger transport. For investment, New Zealand lowers its thresholds for reviewing Chinese investment and confirms to grant Chinese investment the same review treatment as members of the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). For rules, both sides pledge to enhance cooperation in areas of e-commerce, competition policy, government procurement, environment and trade.
The China-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement signed in April 2008 was implemented on 1 Oct. 2008. In November 2016, the two sides initiated negotiations on the upgrading of the FTA. In November 2019, the two sides announced the conclusion of negotiations on the upgrading.
Contributors: CJO Staff Contributors Team
