Clark downplays Chinese trade move

By GREG ANSLEY

Helen Clark yesterday moved to play down speculation that New Zealand was on the verge of a world-beating free trade agreement with China.

The speculation followed Wellington's decision to recognise China as a market economy, welcomed by Beijing as a bargaining chip in its bid to ease conditions imposed when it joined the World Trade Organisation.

Negotiations on a free-trade agreement (FTA) are expected to begin early next year, and China's Ambassador to New Zealand, Chen Mingming, told the Herald on Tuesday that if "everything goes well this could be the first FTA between China and a developed country".

The Prime Minister said yesterday that reports were running a bit ahead of events.

"It's impossible to say that any one country will be the first to strike a deal because China will be talking with a lot of players and you cannot assess at what rate talks will go with individual countries or groupings of countries," she said after annual talks with Australian Prime Minister John Howard.

"But what I can say is we're very happy with the progress we're making with China."

Helen Clark also said that, despite a revitalised bid to force reform through the WTO's stalled Doha round of negotiations, New Zealand and Australia would continue to pursue separate bilateral deals.

"We have our own free trade agreement priorities running and I congratulate [Australia] on your success with the agreement with that great economy."

She said New Zealand was lobbying in Washington and "obviously it's our aspiration that where Australia has gone, New Zealand will in time follow".