On the occasion of the one- year anniversary of the signing of New Zealand-China Free Trade Agreement, the New Zealand Contemporary China Research Center was officially opened on Tuesday in Wellington, marking a step closer between the two countries.

The New Zealand Contemporary China Research Center, based at Victoria University, was opened by Wayne Mapp, the New Zealand minister of Research Science and Technology and associate minister for Tertiary Education, and Pat Walsh, vice chancellor of Victoria University.

The Center's primary research focus will be on contemporary China, initially on issues such as the political and economic issues of China's transformation, marketing and business management in China, the legal framework for business in China and international law issues in New Zealand-China ties, as well as the impact of China in the Asia-Pacific region.

Mapp told Xinhua that the opening of the China Center shows the deepening of ties between New Zealand and China, adding that the New Zealand government regards its ties with China as one of the most important and sound bilateral ties in the 21st Century.

The Center's newly appointed director, Victoria University Professor Xiaoming Huang, said the aim of the center is to provide a national collaborative platform for China-related research.

"This initiative will greatly enhance capability building and knowledge sharing between tertiary institutions, the business community and public sector organizations in New Zealand for effective engagement in China," he added.

"China's inexorable rise as a global economic power in the 21st century has profound implications for the world and for New Zealand. The ongoing global economic crisis seems to further confirm this. We hope this symposium can be a useful platform for discussion and debate among scholars, policy makers in the public sector and practitioners in the private sector on China-related issues that have significant implications for New Zealand," he said.

Huang said activities are likely to include joint research projects, a national system of access to information on China, staff and student exchanges and access to scholarship and research funding. Senior visitor, executive training and China lecture programs are also planned.

The Center is supported by funding from the New Zealand Tertiary Education Commission and will be led by Victoria University in partnership with the Universities of Otago and Canterbury and Auckland University of Technology (AUT).

Following the official opening, the Center hosted the first in its China symposia program, which focuses on the impact of the global economic crisis on New Zealand-China economic relations.

Chaired by New Zealand Minister of Trade Tim Groser, the China Symposium included speakers from Fudan University, the Unirule Institute of Economics in Beijing, NZ Trade and Enterprise, and NZ- China Trade Association.

The symposium, based on the theme of "Institutional Dynamics and the Great Transformation of China," brought together leading international scholars to look at issues such as China's political, economic and social development, as well as institution building and governance.

(Xinhua News Agency April 14, 2009)