China wants markets help

By FRAN O'SULLIVAN assistant editor

Chinese Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs Zhou Wengzhong has called on New Zealand to join China in a strategy to open up the world's most lucrative agriculture markets to less developed countries.

Zhou has also dangled the prospect of a free trade agreement between China and New Zealand "some time in the future".

"Opening markets has to be two-way," Zhou said in Auckland yesterday as he foreshadowed the need for both countries to work closely to ensure the Doha Development agenda to liberalise agricultural trade is successful.

"The interests of developing countries has to be taken into account."

Zhou slated the EU and Japan for not opening their agricultural markets more quickly and said the US used market access restrictions to prevent China's exports from increasing.

"It must be a two-way traffic," he said. "China has been asked to open our markets but it has to be reciprocal.

"We do have problems in entering the US market . . . I think you have the same problem."

Zhou predicted there would be more free trade agreements, including between New Zealand and China.

He said relations between the two were in "very good shape".

"Trade is increasing and high- level exchanges are taking place all the time."

The vice-minister hosed down fears that New Zealand's education export industry might be under threat because of claims that Asian students here have become involved in prostitution, gambling, drug abuse and gang activity.

"There will be problems as more students arrive," said Zhou. "But this is a market with great potential - more Chinese would like to have their students studying abroad - so I do believe this kind of co-operation will have a good future. But in the meantime both sides need to pay attention to the kind of problems that have emerged."

At today's post-Pacific Islands Forum dialogue he will announce that China will join the South Pacific tourist organisation - "another step China is going to take in promoting co-operation and exchange with China and South Pacific".

"Most people agree China's a force for peace - we are not trying to pursue any selfish agenda in this region."

In the first half of this year, two way trade between China and South Pacific countries totalled $US7 billion, of which trade with the smaller island nations came to UZS$200m, up 100 percent on the same period last year.