The Cook Islands have tried to reassure concerned Pacific neighbours that a pact the nation has signed this week with China "deliberately" contains very little detail.

The self-governing nation state, which has free association with Aotearoa-New Zealand, has confirmed its five-year agreement with China includes cooperating to explore and research the seabed mineral riches off the islands.

A government-appointed joint committee would oversee the partnership which includes the involvement of seabed minerals-related training and technology transfer, logistics support, and deep-sea ecosystems research.

The Cook Islands has licensed three Chinese-approved companies to explore its seabed for nodules rich in metals, such as nickel and cobalt, which lucratively are used for electric car batteries.

"Our seabed minerals section remains under strict regulatory oversight, ensuring that all of the decisions are made transparently, and in the best interest of the Cook Islands and all of its people," Prime Minister Mark Brown said on Saturday.

The proposal appears to contradict the stance in the memorandum of understanding the Cook Islands government agreed to on February 14, which did not mention any agreement to giving China exploration or a mining licence.

Mr Brown, earlier in the week, said the latest strategic partnership can only further opportunities for the Cook Islands, but the agreement should not be of any concern of China looking to widen its influence across the South Pacific.

"The one thing I'd like to point out is there is no projects or no actual engagements that have been signed up to," he said.

"This agreement opens the door, it then provides the agreement of the two countries for our agencies, whether it's the infrastructure ministry, health ministry, education ministry, in the private sector, civil society groups to be able to engage with like-minded agencies or groups in China, and to work out then what are potential projects that we can actually get on to.

"Some people have said there's been very little detail and that's deliberately so because the detail will be in any negotiations that will take place for any potential future projects that may take place, whether they are in the area of agriculture, infrastructure development and so forth."

The agreement had been criticised for being vague and lacking details regarding the priority areas in which the two countries will partner, including economic cooperation, infrastructure, maritime cooperation, regional and multilateral cooperation, up until Saturday's confirmation of the Chinese exploring and researching the seabed mineral riches in sovereign waters.

Prime Minister Brown reiterated the deal with China was "not about dependency" and that the relationship is "about us being more independent".

The Cook Islands under Mr Brown's leadership has been pushing for its own passport. All born Cook Islanders are Aotearoa-New Zealand citizens.

The NZ government has ruled out a distinct passport for the 15,000 residents that live in the Cook Islands unless the microstate demands full independence without the current free association with Aotearoa-New Zealand.

NZ and its regional allies including Australia and the United States appear to be unnerved by China's growing diplomatic, economic and military influence in the Indo-Pacific region.

The Australian and Aotearoa governments have expressed alarm in recent days over China conducting live-firing exercises from a warship throughout parts of its Tasman Sea.

While experts say it's unlikely China has broken international law, the Chinese government did not give their Pacific counterparts any warning and the action of the warships caused commercial flights in the area to divert flights.

The NZ government had already complained to the Cook Islands over a lack of consultation and transparency before Mr Brown inked the deal on his visit to China.

Their unique relationship that has Aotearoa-New Zealand providing military for Cook Islands' defence has the senior partner demanding to see the agreements signed during Mr Brown's China trip. However, the Cook Islands PM insists the relationship is not affected by the latest partnership accord with China.

"We note the release today of further agreements signed by the governments of the Cook Islands and China," NZ Foreign Minister Winston Peters.

"We will now analyse the contents of these agreements - focusing on the implications they have for New Zealand, the Cook Islands people and the Realm of New Zealand."

The Solomon Islands - which has no special relationship with NZ - signed its own agreement in 2022 to boost its "cooperation" with China on law enforcement and security matters in a move that raised concerns with traditional South Pacific partners.

China has also funded a new sports-purpose national; stadium that opened in 2023 for that year's Pacific Games to sweeten the relationship with the Solomons.