- Negotiations
On 7 April 2008, New Zealand and China signed a comprehensive bilateral free trade agreement. It was the first bilateral FTA that Beijing signed with a so-called developed country. It entered into force on 1 October 2008.
The NZ-China FTA has raised a number of concerns among New Zealanders, especially relating to:
weak food safety and environmental standards behind China’s agricultural exports to NZ, which are bound to multiply because of the deal;
the labour conditions and lack of rights that Chinese workers are subject to, which the FTA does not address;
China’s broader human rights record, including the repression in Tibet;
the ability of Chinese corporations to now sue the New Zealand government if it were to restrict, in any way, Chinese trade or investment on grounds relating to labour rights, environmental standards or health concerns; and
the inability of New Zealand’s fruit and vegetable producers to compete with the influx of Chinese imports, given the lower wages in their production costs.
A number of New Zealand business groups eager to expand operations in China were happy with the deal, of course. One of these was Fonterra, New Zealand’s largest company and the third largest dairy exporter on the planet. Fonterra took advantage of the agreement to buy up Chinese dairy companies and further build its business in the mainland. But when the melamine milk scandal broke in September 2008 and the public learned that Fonterra — which owned 43% of Sanlu, the first Chinese company linked to the milk — knew of the contamination months before but never said anything, the recriminations came pouring in. (More than 300,000 people fell ill and six infants died of kidney failure as a result of the contamination. And by the end of 2008, Sanlu went bankrupt.)
last update: May 2012
4-Apr-2008
The "smog and mirrors" surrounding New Zealand’s historic free trade agreement with China is about to lift, along with remnants of the Beijing winter.
4-Apr-2008
Ngai Tahu Seafood, the lucrative fisheries arm of one of the largest Maori tribes, says the Government’s controversial free-trade pact with China is a good deal and will earn the iwi millions of dollars.
4-Apr-2008
Trade Minister Phil Goff leaves for China tomorrow to play his part in the signing of the free trade deal between New Zealand and China.
4-Apr-2008
Business leaders are optimistic that the free trade agreement with China will be comprehensive and have quicker phaseout periods for tariffs than a similar pact New Zealand signed with Thailand in 2005.
1-Apr-2008
In apartheid days, support for rugby tours used to be called "building bridges".
Opponents, among them today’s Prime Minister, thought sports boycotts more likely to effect change. The argument spilled into the streets in 1981.
1-Apr-2008
Shifting production of her brand to China has put more money in Cushla Reed’s pocket, allowed her to make lifestyle choices such as having a baby, and given her business a future.
31-Mar-2008
New Zealand’s free trade agreement with China is about more than reducing tariffs - it is also a strategic move which acknowledges that the emerging superpower will become the world’s biggest economy, says Prime Minister Helen Clark.
31-Mar-2008
The public is divided over the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with China that Prime Minister Helen Clark is due to sign in Beijing on April 7, a poll published today shows.
31-Mar-2008
A free trade agreement with China looks set to win the overwhelming backing of Parliament.
31-Mar-2008
Scoop
The Prime Minister has left New Zealand on a trip which will include the signing of a free trade agreement with China in the second week of April. Global Peace and Justice Auckland and Unite Union are organising a protest march to take place shortly before the FTA is signed.