Niue is hoping to sign a deal with the Chinese government by mid year to have the island's badly potholed ring road fixed up.
The head of Niue's SOE Group Wayne Harris-Daw said it was a $US20 million job as the roads have not been touched for 18 years.
He said the Chinese government would put the job out to tender to Chinese firms and the selected contractor would bring in labour but use local materials.
Mr Harris-Daw said a team of assessors from China was expected to arrive on the island next month.
"They will assess the roads and establish exactly what the value is in terms of repairing them and then we're hopeful that the Government of Niue and the People's Republic of China will sign off maybe mid year and they'll start maybe later in the year to uplift the roads, reform them and reseal them," he said.
