China and New Zealand signed a protocol to upgrade their free trade agreement
On January 26, 2021, Minister Wen Tao Wang of the Ministry of Commerce and Minister of Trade and Export Growth of New Zealand, Mr. O 'Connor, on behalf of the two governments, formally signed the Protocol between the Government of the People's Republic of China and the Government of New Zealand Concerning the Upgrading of the Free Trade Agreement between the Government of the People's Republic of China and the Government of New Zealand via video.
Foreign Minister Wang Wentao said that President Xi Jinping pointed out in his special speech at the World Economic Forum "Davos Agenda" that "openness and inclusiveness should be adhered to instead of isolation and exclusivity" and that "China will make great efforts to promote institutional openness in rules, regulations, management and standards".The signing of the Protocol is a concrete action taken by China to practice multilateralism and build an open world economy, as well as an important measure to implement the strategy of upgrading free trade areas.
The Protocol will help China and New Zealand further deepen practical cooperation in various fields, enhance the interests of companies and people of the two countries, and continuously enrich and enrich the connotation of China-New Zealand comprehensive strategic partnership.In the critical period of the global fight against the epidemic, the signing of the Protocol on Escalation also sends a positive signal to the international community that the two countries will work together to tackle the challenge of the epidemic and support multilateralism and free trade.
The Protocol has further enhanced the quality and efficiency of China-New Zealand free trade relations on the basis of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).The main contents include: new market opening of some timber and paper products in the area of goods, further optimization of rules of origin, technical barriers to trade, customs facilitation and other trade rules.In the area of trade in services, on the basis of the RCEP, China will further open up to New Zealand in aviation, education, finance, elderly care and passenger transport.New Zealand will double the quota of Chinese language teachers and Chinese language guides who apply for large numbers of new jobs to 300 and 200, respectively, under the work permit arrangement for featured jobs.In the area of investment, Singapore has eased the threshold for Chinese investment review and confirmed that China will receive the same threshold treatment as members of the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).In the area of rules, the two sides pledged to enhance cooperation in e-commerce, competition policy, government procurement, environment and trade, among which the chapter on environment and trade goes beyond the RCEP and has reached higher-level cooperation clauses on improving environmental protection, strengthening environmental law enforcement, and implementing multilateral environmental conventions.
After the signing of the Protocol, the two sides will go through relevant domestic procedures as soon as possible so that the Agreement will come into force and be implemented at an early date.
The China-New Zealand FTA was signed in April 2008 and implemented on October 1 of the same year.In November 2016, the two sides launched negotiations to upgrade the FTA.In November 2019, the two sides announced the completion of the upgrade negotiations.