Audrey Young: Ardern entitled to gloat after China trade upgrade sealed

Jacinda Ardern would be entitled to a little gloating after coming away with an upgrade to the China free trade agreement at the East Asia Summit.

It is not a brilliant deal. No trade agreement is.

But the fact that it is finished should silence those critics who take cheap shots at her official trips abroad.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern meets with China's Premier Li Keqiang at the ASEAN summit in Bangkok. Photo / Supplied

She and Premier Li Keqiang made the announcement at the start of a bilateral meeting in Bangkok - their fourth meeting in two years.

Another visit by Ardern to Beijing appears on the cards.

It is doubtful that an upgrade concluded by National would have been any better.

It is time the petty politicking around trade between National and the Government stopped and a bipartisan approach resumed.

The suggestion by National's Todd McClay that she should head to Washington to double down on efforts to get an FTA is not becoming of a former Trade Minister.

He knows full well that officials were in Washington last month and are making progress in the wake of Ardern and President Trump discussing it in September.

The China upgrade, which was started by National, strengthens Ardern's Government's credentials when it comes to trade, and Labour's in particular after withdrawing its bipartisan support during TPP negotiations.

She also completed an upgrade with Singapore earlier this year and starts an upgrade on the Asean trade deal next year.

Talks for a European Union deal started by National are progressing and talks with the United States look set to begin soon.

And the TPP deal was finally done, albeit with a few minor changes.

Petty politicking over trade is not one-way. Labour withdrew support for the TPP for electoral advantage disguised as points of principle.

Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters is the worst offender in the current Government, last week publicly criticising National for not having completed an upgrade of the deal with China.

The minor detail that the talks were launched by National only six months before the 2017 election was omitted.

The fact that Peters opposed the original China FTA and most other FTAs in the past 20 years was also omitted.

The upgrade is a political win for Ardern, not Peters, although to be fair, she has not indulged in any gloating.

No matter who it belongs to, a simple congratulation from National to the Government would be justified.