Chinese President Xi Jinping with New Zealand Prime Minister John Key in Beijing on April 19. DING LIN / XINHUA

Country that showed developed nations the way on free trade with China wants to clear cobwebs from its eight-year-old deal. Zhong Nan reports.

When New Zealand Prime Minister John Key met Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing last month, their long, firm handshake betokened not only the two countries' long-standing free trade deal, but the closer and warmer ties on all fronts that lie ahead.

Nevertheless, among trade officials it is that groundbreaking trade agreement signed in 2008 — New Zealand was the first developed country to sign such a deal with China — that is a major preoccupation among trade officials these days.

The agreement concentrated on liberalizing trade, and relatively little attention was paid to services, improving infrastructure facilities and investment.

Upgrading the agreement will help develop a modern service sector and increase financial cooperation between the two countries, the officials say.

Unlike free trade agreements between China and Australia and China and South Korea, the New Zealand agreement lacks "advanced articles" on services and investment, said Yin Zonghua, vice-chairman of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade.

China is now New Zealand's top trading partner. Bilateral trade was worth US$12.82 billion last year, 1.2 percent higher than the year before, the Ministry of Commerce said.