An upgraded free trade agreement? Happy New Zealand!
On the afternoon of 26th, Damien O'connor, Minister of Trade of New Zealand, and Wang, Minister of Commerce of China, signed an upgraded free trade agreement at a video conference. The benefits of the upgraded free trade agreement signed by New Zealand and China are obvious. According to The Times, after eight years and nearly 30 rounds of negotiations, China and New Zealand reached an agreement for the first time. The New Zealand government finally signed what is called the world's largest free trade agreement.
It is reported that the agreement will enable New Zealand's exports to enter China, the second largest economy in the world, more quickly and have more opportunities. And reduced the tariffs on paper products and wood products. New Zealand said that the agreement "modernized" its existing free trade agreement with China and ensured that it would still be applicable in the next decade. Similarly, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern also confirmed the signing of the agreement, and pointed out the importance of the agreement, that is, reducing the difficulty of exporting to China and reducing the compliance cost of New Zealand exports by millions of dollars every year.
After the signing of the agreement, New Zealand Trade Minister O 'Connor said, "This will make the free trade agreement we signed in 2008 more modern and keep pace with the times. It provides real opportunities for exporters. 10 years ago, some issues surrounding trade were not so complicated, and this agreement enabled us to move forward, especially in the service field. "
Now, once the agreement is fully effective, it will achieve 98% free trade with China. China is New Zealand's largest trading partner, and this upgrade mainly focuses on measures such as reducing the compliance cost of exporters, so as to facilitate products to enter the China market. Now, at the border of China, perishable goods such as seafood from New Zealand will have a fast customs clearance time of 6 hours, and all dairy products exported from New Zealand to China will be zero tariff until June 65438+1 October1. In addition, exporters can now contact China Port directly to solve any possible problems. O 'Connor said: "These are the technical problems we solved in the process of upgrading the agreement, which will bring more security and certainty to all our exporters."
"Old iron! Come on! Learn more from me! "
Since signing the upgraded free trade agreement with China, New Zealand has tasted the sweetness. Then, New Zealand, as a good neighbor and brother of Australia, naturally adheres to the principle of "friends will walk together for life" and begins to earnestly persuade that very "iron-headed" Australia-"Lao Tie! Come on! Learn more from me! "
According to The Times, O 'Connor, Minister of Trade of New Zealand, directly said that Australia had not handled its relations with China properly, and said that Australia should follow New Zealand's example and use more diplomatic means. O 'Connor said that at this moment, nationalism "is no longer the way forward", and it is the most correct thing to establish more trade relations and friendly cooperation with China. He said: "I can't represent Australia, but obviously, if they follow us ... a little more diplomatic rhetoric from time to time and be careful in wording ... they can develop trade like us." In addition, NBC Business Channel (American Consumer News and Business Channel) also interviewed O 'Connor on the 27th. In the interview, O 'Connor talked about his mediation proposal. He said that New Zealand has a mature relationship with China, so we also hope to solve this worrying problem. "
In fact, it is no longer a day or two for New Zealand to intervene in mediating Australia-China relations. As early as last month, according to the ninth news report, the New Zealand government formally proposed to intervene in an attempt to resolve the trade dispute between the two countries. New Zealand Foreign Minister Machuta said that when the diplomatic relations between Australia and China are tense, she is willing to reach a settlement through negotiation. Machuta said, "I think New Zealand will have a chance to create a different environment for China and Australia to have a dialogue and return to' time-tested diplomacy'". In addition, she also said: "I think the APEC summit hosted by New Zealand may be an opportunity. Of course, the premise is that the Chinese and Australian governments must be willing to sit together and make concessions in some areas where there are differences at present. "
It seems that New Zealand has also broken its heart for this better and more stable Asia-Pacific family ...
Experts and netizens have something to say about whether New Zealand is "sincere advice when most people are least heeded" or "don't watch the excitement too much"
This matter is no longer a government or national issue in China, Australia and New Zealand. Seriously, many experts and netizens in these three countries have their own views on the relationship between them.
According to the Sydney Morning Herald, Dave Sharma, a member of the Australian Liberal Party and a former senior diplomat, said: "I don't think New Zealand's proposal is particularly insightful or helpful." He said: "Although some people think that the Australian tone or wording has worsened our relationship with China to some extent, this view is fundamentally rejected by us and is not in line with reality. This exposes the lack of understanding of basic facts, which is not what I want to see from New Zealand, a close partner. "
However, James Laurenceson, director of the Australia-China Relations Institute of the University of Technology, Sydney, has a very different view. He believes: "Although the Australian government may not be willing to admit this fact, New Zealand is likely to provide a new model for Australia to deal with its relations with China."
In addition, on the social media platform Twitter, many netizens also expressed their opinions. For example, netizen @SandyLanceley said, "If New Zealand wants to be China's running dog, then do it." Netizen @originalalison refuted this view and commented: "Why can't Australia take its neighbors seriously? We could have been best friends. I really don't understand what some people mean by "traitorous". "
Of course, some netizens associate Australia-China relations with the United States ... Netizen @THDcurnow said, "I gave up my hard-won diplomacy with China for 40 years and put all my chips on Trump. Since then, anti-China rhetoric has surged and everything has become different. What is even more unexpected is that this kind of speech is actually very popular in Australia. "
It is really difficult to have a relatively "mainstream" view on how to balance China-Australia relations. So how will Australia-China relations go? Can New Zealand really help? Maybe only time will tell us the answer. (Comprehensive compilation by Wei Wei)