NZ Trade Ministry spokesman says access for agricultural products to customs union is key sticking point.

The most favourable terms of trade for 40 years and a $3.1 billion rise in exports to China were not enough to close the trade gap last year.

When Mr Yong, assistant marketing manager for a Shenzhen manufacturing company, produced a pair of pink star-shaped nipple covers for my perusal, I began to sense a problem. "No!" I cried, anxiously. "It's tips for chair legs I want."

News that China may have become the world's largest trading nation had an air of inevitability about it, writes Stephen Jacobi. Yet even as we learn to ride the Chinese wave, we need to keep our options open.

A waterfront dispute has broken out between two of New Zealand's biggest ports, arguing about who is the best.

The NZ dollar was little changed ahead of local inflation data which is expected to inform the Reserve Bank's decision when it reviews monetary policy next week.

Ministers and officials have different ideas on what was agreed at Trans-Pacific Partnership talks in Singapore, writes Jane Kelsey.