China’s Asia-Pacific trade deal, digital economy pact aspirations backed by New Zealand

New Zealand on Wednesday backed China’s participation in the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP)
It also supported China’s bid to join the Digital Economy Partnership Agreement (DEPA) during Prime Minister Chris Hipkins’ visit

China trade

Kandy Wong

Published: 7:15pm, 28 Jun 2023

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New Zealand on Wednesday publicly endorsed China’s participation in both an Asia-Pacific trade agreement and a digital economy pact during Prime Minister Chris Hipkins’ first visit to the country.

China applied to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) in September 2021 and Digital Economy Partnership Agreement (DEPA) in November 2021.

New Zealand “is aware of the high thresholds that participants of CPTPP should conform”, while it also “welcomes China to join the working group of DEPA for in-depth discussions”, said a joint statement released by the state-backed Xinhua News Agency.

CPTPP membership requires approval from all member countries, namely Canada, Mexico, Peru, Chile, New Zealand, Australia, Brunei, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam and Japan. The United Kingdom, having applied in June 2021, reached an agreement to join in March and is expected to formally sign the pact this year.

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DEPA, which currently covers Chile, New Zealand and Singapore, builds upon the digital or e-commerce chapters of existing free-trade agreements, such as CPTPP, adding commitments to help digital trade and cooperation on advanced technologies.

In May, the Post reported that China had failed to secure a public endorsement from Australia to join CPTPP during a visit to Beijing by Australian trade minister Don Farrell, with Chinese sanctions still in place on some Australian products.

China and New Zealand, though, have agreed to strengthen bilateral economic cooperation on food security, agriculture, customs facilitation for trade and law implementation, as well as new technology.

An upgraded free-trade agreement had already entered into last year, and China and Zealand are set to start working on a list of services that will be excluded from restrictions this year, the joint statement on Wednesday added.

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To enhance bilateral trade, both countries will jointly develop e-commerce, international trade in service and the green economy, the statement said.

In addition, China and New Zealand will push for an interactive mechanism on developing new-energy vehicles, while also maintaining communication on cooperation as part of the Belt and Road Initiative.

China is New Zealand’s biggest trading partner, while both are already members of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership free-trade agreement that also includes the 10 Association of Southeast Asian Nations countries plus Australia, Japan and South Korea.

The joint statement came after Chinese Premier Li Qiang’s keynote speech on the opening day of the World Economic Forum on Tuesday played up China’s economic prospects and blamed “the West” for calls on “de-risking”.

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Premier Li Qiang plays up China’s economic prospects at World Economic Forum’s ‘Summer Davos’

New Zealand is the only country in the Five Eyes intelligence network – which also includes Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States – that has maintained a good relationship with Beijing.

In a separate official statement issued by the office of the New Zealand prime minister, it said Li and Hipkins signed cooperation arrangements covering trade, agriculture, forestry, education and science and innovation.

Both parties discussed “a range of regional and global issues, including the Indo-Pacific region, tensions in the South China Sea and Taiwan Strait”, the statement added.

“I talked about how important it is that engagement in the Pacific takes place in a manner which advances Pacific priorities and supports regional organisations – in particular the Pacific Islands Forum,” Hipkins said, referring to the influential group of 18 South Pacific nations.

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