WELLINGTON (AP) – Chinese Premier Li Qiang met with New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon yesterday in Wellington, New Zealand.
Li is the first Chinese premier to visit New Zealand since a 2017 visit by Li Keqiang. He will also travel to Australia and Malaysia, China’s Foreign Ministry said this week.
After their meeting, Luxon and Li announced new agreements on trade, environmental and other issues.
China is the South Pacific nation’s largest trading partner, with two-way trade worth NZD36 billion (USD22 billion).
They signed a bilateral free trade agreement in 2008 – China’s first with an Organization for Cooperation and Development nation – and Li’s visit marked the 10th anniversary of a pledge to bolster ties signed in 2014 when China’s President Xi Jinping last visited Wellington.
New Zealand has long sought to diversify its export market away from dependence on China, but Luxon yesterday hailed Li’s visit as a renewed opportunity for business, adding there were “huge” opportunities for more trade, citing China’s “rapidly rising middle class”.
