II. Bilateral Trade and Economic Relations and Technical Cooperation
Since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries,
China-New Zealand economic and trade ties have seen a stable and healthy
development. Since 1990, bilateral trade has experienced a fast development.
The bilateral trade volume between China and New Zealand in 2002 totaled
1,399 million US dollars, an increase of 19.4% compared with the same period of
the previous year, among which, the Chinese export increased by 37.1% with a
total value of US$596 million, and import US$803 million, an increase of 9%.
As far as the commodity items are concerned, products China imports from New
Zealand are mainly raw materials, with wool remaining one of the largest items
of import. In recent years, China's export of electric and machinery products to
New Zealand has increased rather rapidly, which further improves the commodity
structure of China's export to New Zealand. With the growth of Chinese economy
and the continued strengthening and development of the bilateral trade
relations, China-New Zealand economic relations which was once dominated by a
single form of trade have been broadened with cooperation developing on
multi-levels and in multi-forms covering a wide range of areas. Being a
traditional capital inflow country, New Zealand corporations also attaches great
importance to the investment opportunities in China.
By the end of 2002, the number of New Zealand invested projects in China had
totaled 675, with a contractual amount of US$573 million, actual investment
utilized reached US$292 million. 20 China-invested trading entities and
manufacturing enterprises have been established in New Zealand involving nearly
US$1,030 million of Chinese investment.Today New Zealand has become one of
China's biggest overseas investment destinations.
New Zealand's technical assistance to China, which began in 1989, has taken a
form of direct assistance to project units. In 1990, the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs and Trade of New Zealand and the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic
Cooperation of China formally launched a comprehensive program for technical
cooperation. In 1992, New Zealand decided to provide NZ$1 million of assistance
annually to China .Since 1993, the two sides have explored and developed various
forms of technical cooperation to promote trade and investment. In the same
year, the two sides launched small-scale poverty alleviation projects in China.
Although started at a later stage and in a smaller scale, China-New Zealand
technical cooperation has developed in a steady way with flexible forms and
effective results, enhancing the two countries' cooperation in the fields of
forestry, animal husbandry, poverty alleviation and other fields of economic and
trade relations. By the end of 2002, New Zealand's aid to China had totalled
US$13 million.