China, NZ ink raft of deals, strengthen ties

President Xi Jinping meets with New Zealand Prime Minister John Key on Nov.20. (Photo: Xinhua)

New pacts include amended FTA, tourism

China and New Zealand sealed a package of 10 agreements on Thursday during Chinese President Xi Jinping's first state visit to the country, signaling a rounding-out of cooperation in the bilateral relationship.[Special coverage]

The 10 agreements include a pact on climate change cooperation in which the two countries will work more closely on developing carbon markets and emissions trading, and an amendment to the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the two countries that allows China and New Zealand to work together on official television co-productions, according to the website of the New Zealand National Party.

The agreement on jointly producing TV programs is the first of its kind between China and a foreign country, the Xinhua News Agency said.

Other arrangements include cooperation programs related to food supervision, Antarctica and tourism.

The bilateral relationship was elevated to the level of a comprehensive strategic partnership, Xi said during talks with New Zealand Prime Minister John Key.

The 10 agreements covered a wide range of areas, including the economy, culture and agriculture, reflecting the comprehensive cooperation between the two countries, Chen Mingming, former Chinese ambassador to New Zealand, told the Global Times.

New Zealand was the first developed nation to conclude World Trade Organization entrance talks with China, to recognize China as a market economy, and to sign an FTA with China.

The new partnership means that China will deepen its cooperation with New Zealand on major global issues such as security, combating graft, climate change and terrorism, he said.

Chen added that China-New Zealand relations set a good example for relationships between China and other developed countries.

"Xi's visit produced major progress in the bilateral relationship, building on an already solid foundation," Chen said.

Some experts said that as relationships between China and other Asia-Pacific countries deepen, the US strategy of exploiting countries like Australia and New Zealand to contain China's development in the region is destined to fail.

The US move back toward the Asia-Pacific region four years ago has since seen it deepen military, economic and diplomatic ties with other Asian countries, in an attempt to contain China, Jin Canrong, a professor of the School of International Studies at the Renmin University of China, told the Global Times Thursday.

The US intention to lead the Asia-Pacific region will not be realized, as China's importance and status in this region outweighs the US, Shen Dingli, director of the Center for American Studies at Fudan University, told the Global Times Thursday.

Employment and other economic factors of the US have been affected by the strengthened economic cooperation between China and other Asia-Pacific countries including New Zealand and Australia, Shen said.

"Economic ties guarantee political and security ties. New Zealand and Australia will favor China more than the US in their future decisions as they are now bound to China," he said.

The US has tried for a long time to use Japan, Vietnam and some European countries to curb China's development. However, China has managed to break these attempts by strengthening relationships with its neighboring countries, Shen said.

"The US has accomplished little in containing China. It may have to abort this strategy and work to cooperate better with China," said Jin.

During the talks, Xi called for more bilateral cooperation between the two countries in areas such as financial service, information technology, energy conservation, environmental protection and bio-medicine.

China is New Zealand's largest trading partner and the two countries have strong links in a number of areas, including business, tourism and education, according to the New Zealand government.

Since the two countries signed an FTA in 2008, bilateral trade has registered an annual increase of over 20 percent. The pair's 2015 bilateral trade target of NZ$ 20 billion ($16 billion) was met in May 2014.

Xi said the two sides should further consolidate cooperation in traditional areas like agriculture and animal husbandry to realize the new goal of increasing bilateral trade to NZ$30 billion by 2020.

New Zealand will also cooperate with China in its anti-graft campaign, which aims at seizing assets of corrupt officials who have fled to New Zealand, the New Zealand Herald reported Thursday.

Xi arrived in New Zealand on Wednesday on the second leg of his three-nation South Pacific tour.

Xi is scheduled to meet the New Zealand China Council and visit the New Zealand Bloodstock facility at Karaka on Friday before he leaves for Fiji for a state visit.

Xinhua contributed to this story