New Zealand and China will probably complete their negotiations on the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) before next April, said a senior official from New Zealand on Monday.

 

Annette King, Minister of Transport of New Zealand, who is on a visit to China, told Chinese reporters that the eleventh round of the FTA talk between the two countries kicked off Monday morning in Wellington, New Zealand's capital, and is going "very well".

 

"The FTA talks are likely to complete before next April, and I hope it could be even earlier," King said.

 

New Zealand was the first nation to conclude a bilateral World Trade Organization accession agreement with China, the first to recognize China's market economy status and the first developed nation to enter FTA negotiations with China.

 

The tenth round of negotiations was held in Beijing in January, 2007.

 

(Xinhua News Agency April 24, 2007)