this is a great for NZ, Asia and South East Asian countries have some of the fastest developing nations in the world. Its going to open up new export markets and provide much cheaper goods in the New Zealand market. FTA are far over due

Damn those Ideologues that run New Zealand, It was a coup d'etat by servants of the Chicago School of Economics - "The Washington Consensus, IMF Shock Therapy." Remove those tariffs, Bust those Unions, de-skill those workers, lower those wages, sell those public assets, destroy those social programs, throw those superfluous people in prison, privatise those prisons(a work in progress) and watch from your new seats on the sideline as the pirates make off will all the loot and the general pop are left to eat dirt. Look around all 3rd world nations and you'll see the common denominator is IMF Economics and free trade fantasies. Looking at it from the point of view of cheaper tyres for your car(see #5) is an example of not seeing the forest for the trees. New Zealand's sovereignty and the people of is at stake.

Hey John and Simon Go down to your local libraries and grab a couple of books on basic principles of economics. You will see why free trade is BLOODY GOOD. Of course there are going to be losers but overall there is net gain in free trade agreements. The reason for the decline in the manufacturing sector is because its far too expensive for NZ to compete because we do not have the absolute or comparative advantage in this area. It means NZ needs to move into other sectors in which we are competitive so we have efficient use of resources, cheaper costs of production and ultimately cheaper prices for consumers here and abroad. NZers like you two need to get your heads out of the ground and like I said before, read about basic economics.

@ Simon #3 - What's wrong with cheap imports? Are you saying it's better for the whole country to pay $300 for a tyre made in NZ instead of $150 for the same quality tyre made in China?

Quite right Max - John #1 what planet are you on? Malaysia is not China so to compare is either ignorant, racist, or both. And as for China, at the last count they had 130 US$ billionaires in their ranks, you may say they have done it by exploitation and low pay rates. However Chinese regional pay rates are relative to their costs of living and lifestyles. In a country of 1.3 billion you cannot generalise about wages and lifestyles. If a rural worker ekes out $5 a day on a farm, $30 a day in a factory where you also get free meals and full accommodation will be a hugely enticing. Are you suggesting that they NOT be given the right to improve their personal standards of living?

And how do you figure that Max. Just look how unsuccessful other free trade agreements have been for other countries like Australia and look at the poor state of the New Zealand manufacturing industry, just last week another 300 jobs lost in Christchurch because of cheap, no tariff imports. I think you need to get your head out of the books and look at the real world.

I'm afraid there's only one 'John' on this page that is ignorant and his surname isn't Key. If you can't see the positives in this deal then you need to pick up a few more books. This is brilliant news for New Zealand and I look forward to the same in the rest of SE Asia soon.

Great just what we need, our own manufacturing industry is in rapid decline with new closures every week and our ignorant PM celebrates a free trade deal with another country like China that exploits it's people for cheap labour for which NZ can not compete, stunning news John, good work!