Exporters are hoping to iron out a few kinks in New Zealand's free trade deal with China when the nation's Premier visits.

Li Keqiang arrives in the country tonight with a large official and business delegation in tow, marking 45 years of diplomatic relations between China and New Zealand, and nine years since the free trade agreement was signed.

ExportNZ head Catherine Beard argues there are a few 'big ticket items' which have outpaced the agreement, such as access for dairy products at lower tariffs.

Beard says there is a 'volume safety limit' in place - meaning when exports reach a certain volume, the tariffs tick up higher again.

"The trade between New Zealand and Chinas has been so successful on dairy that we hit those volumes quite early in the year now so we really need to do something about that," she said.

Beard also points out there are a list of smaller issues, like access through Customs and labelling, exporters are hoping for movement on.

"Hopefully some progress will be made, because of course every time China does a free trade agreement with another country, they can end up getting better results."

The visit comes as the government announced a renewed policy on free trade, hoping to have 90 per cent of New Zealand's goods exports covered by free trade agreements by 2030 - up from the current level of 53 percent.

The upcoming May budget promises $91.3 million over four years to help achieve the target.