(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-01-24 19:18

China and New Zealand will sign the Bilateral Free Trade Agreement (FTA) in April, the Ministry of Commerce announced Thursday.

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The two countries had reached consensus on major issues in their FTA negotiations and both countries will respectively submit the final agreement proposals to their governments for review and approval, Wang Xinpei, MOC spokesman, said at a press conference.

The agreement would include arrangements for bilateral trade of products and services, investment and other issues, he said.

"The establishment of the China-New Zealand FTA will not only boost economic development and benefit people of both countries, but also forge stronger ties between the two countries," Wang said.

Negotiators of the two countries had wrapped up their 15th round of FTA talks, which kicked off in November 2004, he said.

In April 2006, China and New Zealand agreed to conclude their negotiations on FTA in one or two years and reach goals that were "comprehensive, high-quality, balanced and acceptable for both".

New Zealand was the first developed nation to enter FTA negotiations with China.