When he was asked what suggestions his ministry will make at the two-day talks at a press conference, he couched his refusal in very polite terms, saying that people would “just have to wait”.

But he did reveal one of his suggestions – that the office have to recognize the importance of Sino-US relations and the recommendations that was created by the SED and formed under President Hu Jintao and former US President George W. Bush in 2006.

“Our relationship needs to, and should, keep growing and developing under the guide of some seminar, like the Strategic Economic Dialogue or some other approaches.”

“The US, the world’s largest economy, and China, the world’s fastest developing economy, are linked. It’s our first priority to address and accomplish issues by collaboration,” he said.

At the SED, Johnson and his colleagues will address issues regarding energy and environmental framework of a 10-year period. They will be concentrating on water and air quality problems, and sustainable development.

“We’ll also talk about eco-cities issue, which is an initiative recommendation that we hope to be able to launch in the near future, promoting eco-city partnerships among cities in the US, as well as here in China.” Johnson said.

“We are aware that we’re facing many similar challenges as well as opportunities, especially in the area of green oreco-friendly sustainable development.”

The SED agenda will also include discussions on the economy, directed by Henry Paulson, the US Secretary.

“It is more important than ever to balance economic growth and sustainable development considering the current global financial crisis,” said Johnson, during a speech addressed the students from Tongji University’s science, technology and environmental departments.

“In my considered opinion, this course is very shortsighted, which probably risks losing the future for gaining the present’s interests. What’s worst is that it also totally ignores one of the principal lessons of the past three decades – that the goals of economic growth and environmental protection are seriously interrelated.”

There are still other issues to be discussed at the SED, including food safety, product quality and the reduction of trade protectionism.

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China has been actively promoting free trade in recent years as the largest developing country in the world. The new agreement is the seventh FTAs China has signed with other countries and the first one with a developed country.

The mutual benefits are obvious with the signing of the free trade. The amount of two-way trade between China and New Zealand reached 5.9 billion in 2007, rose by 10 percent to the previous year.

As there is almost no tariff on both sides, it is believed that businesses in China and New Zealand will get more opportunities for seeking the benefit of the two people. The signing of the deal also sets a good example for trade talks China is having or will have with other developing and developed countries.

It shows that joint efforts can help countries overcome differences in their development levels and further their cooperative relations as well as economic growth. More importantly, successful implementation of these FTAs will blow heavily to protectionism.

As the most populous country in the world, China enjoys a huge advantage of low labour costs. However, protectionism pressures against China have been increased in many developed countries as the country has registered a ballooning trade surplus with its rise as a global manufacturing power. Such a trend is harmful to the growth of free trade around the world.

The new FTA certifies evidently that China has not slowed its pace to integrate itself with the global economy after entering into WTO. Obviously, being recognized by a developed country as a closer trade partner shows the determination of China to free trade.

Hopefully more developed countries will follow the example of New Zealand, and recognize China’s full market economy status. In one word, closer trade ties will definitely work better in accelerating economic growth than protectionism.

Are you interested in the business opportunities in China?

China is one of the world’s great growth markets and is likely to be for many years to come. Foreign companies often face difficulties in assessing Chinese market demand and enacting effective strategies because of the language barriers, culture differences, and high expense.

BPOVIA is the leading virtual assistant and Knowledge process outsourcing (KPO) service provider in China. BPOVIA is the only virtual assistant company ever been nominated for the prestigious “Red Herring 100 Asia” Awards 2008. Combines international perspective with local know-how, BPOVIA can provide our clients China business development service and help our clients doing successful business in China.

Please visit http://www.BPOVIA.com/ for details about our service.