Trade agreement on agenda when Chinese Premier visits

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao arrives on Wednesday for a brief visit and Prime Minister Helen Clark said today several co-operation agreements would be signed while he is in New Zealand.

The PM said the free trade agreement (FTA) that is being negotiated with China would be a key topic when she meets Mr Wen, and dismissed suggestions that there could be a problem because Foreign Minister Winston Peters is opposed to free trade with China.

"He's the foreign minister, not the trade minister. The trade minister (Phil Goff) deals with those issues," she said on TV One's Breakfast programme.

"Winston Peters gets on and works on the other diplomatic aspects of the relationship between New Zealand and China."

Helen Clark agreed during the interview that free trade would be a key point in discussions with Mr Wen, who is bringing a delegation with him.

"We're up around the sixth round of negotiations now, but there will also be a number of other agreements signed on this visit ranging across a lot of areas of co-operation with China," she said.

"We certainly regard this as a very important visit."

Mr Peters is due to meet Mr Wen and members of the Chinese delegation.

The premier arrives on Wednesday evening and leaves on Friday morning.

- NZPA