The Upgrade Protocol of the China-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement, which entered into force on Thursday, will further expand the market opening of goods, services, investment and other areas between the two countries in the coming years, said the Ministry of Commerce in a statement posted online.

In addition to significantly facilitating trade, the ministry said the bilateral deal has added four new chapters, namely e-commerce, competition policy, government procurement, environment and trade. They are more in line with the needs of modern economic and trade development.

Regarding trade of goods, the upgraded FTA will see both countries open their markets for certain wood and paper products and optimize trade practices such as rules of origin, technical barriers to trade and Customs facilitation.

Foreign trade between China and New Zealand soared 36.4 percent year-on-year to $24.72 billion in 2021, data from the ministry showed.

The China-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement was signed on April 7, 2008, and entered into force on October 1 of the same year. The two countries began negotiations on upgrading the FTA in November 2016, and officially signed the Upgrading Protocol on January 26, 2021.