China, New Zealand make progress on FTA (Xinhua) Updated: 2006-03-14 16:34
China and New Zealand have made further progress toward establishing a free
trade area during the latest round of negotiations held in Beijing between March
7-10, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce said Tuesday.
During the sixth
round of negotiations, the two sides carried out extensive consultations and
increased their consensus on the trade of products and services, investment,
intellectual property rights, resolution of disputes, rules of origins, customs
cooperation, technical barriers and other issues, the Ministry said.
Officials from China's ministries of commerce, foreign affairs, finance,
agriculture and other authorities took part in the negotiations. Vice Minister
of Commerce Yi Xiaozhun met with the New Zealand delegates.
According to
the Ministry of Commerce, China is in talks with 27 countries and regions with
the aim of establishing nine free trade areas, covering one quarter of China's
total trade. Negotiations with New Zealand are the first such talks with a
developed country.
Trade between China and New Zealand has been growing
rapidly in recent years. Bilateral trade reached 2.68 billion U.S. dollars in
2005, 2.5 times more than in 2000.
Talks between the two countries were
officially launched in November 2004 by Chinese President Hu Jintao and New
Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark.
The seventh round of negotiations
will be held in New Zealand this May.
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