A lot of agreements will be signed with China during Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's visit here New Zealand, Prime Minister Helen Clark said on Monday.

"So it's a very substantial visit, and that reflects the fact that the (New Zealand's) relationship with China is a very broad-ranging relationship," Clark said in an interview with Xinhua.

The Chinese premier will visit New Zealand on April 5-7. "The visit is a recognition of the growing momentum in New Zealand's broad and important relationship with China," Clark said.

"This is a constructive, increasingly comprehensive relationship and I look forward to discussions on how it can be further enhanced," said Clark.

"I also look forward to discussing progress on the New Zealand-China Free Trade Agreement (FTA), and the mutual benefits a high-quality, comprehensive FTA will bring," she added.

FTA talks between the two countries were officially launched in November 2004, and the two sides have made further progress toward establishing a free trade area after six rounds of negotiations.

During the negotiations, the two sides reached consensus over the trade of products and services, investment, intellectual property rights, resolution of disputes, rules of origins, customs cooperation, technical barriers and other issues.

Trade between China and New Zealand has been growing rapidly in recent years. Bilateral trade reached US$2.68 billion in 2005, 2.5 times more than that in 2000.

Clark told Xinhua that the New Zealanders are seeking a comprehensive, high-quality trade deal, which should cover the whole sectors.

"What I can say is a lot of the earlier rounds of talks were really about all general principles, and we are now getting down to the substance, of what sectors are sensitive and how should they be deal with," said Clark.

In addition to government-to-government dialogue during Wen's visit, there are many activities in the fields of business, science and technology, and cultural exchanges, she said.

Clark, who has visited China three times as prime minister, said she has been witnessing the rapid development of China and wide-ranging exchanges between the two nations.

"I have studied the New Zealand-China relationship for more than 20 years. ... We didn't have any students coming here 20 years ago, we had very few migrations coming from China, and in addition, 20 years ago, the trade was very tiny."

Nowadays, there have been quite a lot of visits and exchanges between the two nations in many fields, and New Zealand has attracted many tourists, immigrants and students from China, Clark said.
 
The New Zealand prime minister said Wellington is strengthening the contacts with China in the field of education.

"The education relations grow very fast around short-term language courses, and I think we are looking for more degree courses exchange, including selecting young New Zealanders to China."

Talking about the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, Clark said New Zealanders are looking forward to the games.

"I think China will make huge efforts to see Olympic Games is very successful. And we want to bring our good teams to attend the huge competition there in Beijing," said Clark.

(Xinhua News Agency April 5, 2006 )