Recently, Chinese Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao held a video conference with New Zealand's Minister of Trade and Export Growth O'Connor. The two parties announced that they have completed the domestic approval process of the "China-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement Upgrade Protocol", and the "Upgrade Protocol" will come into effect on April 7.
The two sides agreed to take the 50th anniversary of China-Singapore diplomatic relations in 2022 as an opportunity to implement the "Upgrading Protocol" with high quality, further promote bilateral trade and investment exchanges, jointly promote the development of bilateral economic and trade relations to a higher level, and continuously enrich the connotation of the comprehensive strategic partnership.
The China-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement was signed on April 7, 2008 and implemented on October 1 of the same year. The two sides started negotiations on upgrading the free trade agreement in November 2016, and formally signed the "Upgrading Protocol" on January 26, 2021.