Bilateral trade between China and New Zealand has reached $38 billion per year
On the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the signing of the China-New Zealand Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Treaty, Chinese Premier Li Qiang traveled to Wellington for a summit meeting with his New Zealand counterpart Christopher Luxon. The talks centered on bilateral trade and economic relations. “We discussed our important economic relationship, which benefits the people of both countries through bilateral trade in goods worth nearly 38 billion dollars,” Luxon said after meeting with Premier Li. According to Luxon, “New Zealand businesses are working hard to compete in China, and innovation will be key to ensuring we can continue to get the most out of our products and services.”
For his part, Li Qiang emphasized that in the complicated geopolitical environment, China and New Zealand have maintained mutual respect and focused on cooperation despite changes in the international situation over the past decade, thus making “great progress in bilateral relations” for the benefit of regional prosperity and stability. Li said the two sides should eliminate the interference of “non-economic factors in trade and economic relations.” China wants to increase trade with New Zealand and capitalize on the potential for cooperation in digital technology, green economy, and electric vehicles. As for concrete steps, the Chinese Prime Minister announced the “inclusion of New Zealand in the list of countries that China unilaterally exempts from entry visas.”
In this context, Luxon emphasized the importance of “people-to-people contacts” and added that the two countries can enhance cooperation in areas of mutual interest: “We can do more together to support positive outcomes in climate change, education, sport, and conservation,” the New Zealand Prime Minister said.
Finally, the two prime ministers agreed to continue to “manage bilateral relations strategically and in the long term, expand trade and investment, deepen cultural exchanges, and cooperate for multilateralism.”
china, multipolarworld, newzealand, pacificregion