News:
China’s Premier Li Keqiang visited New Zealand from 26 – 29 March, accompanied by his wife Madame Cheng Hong. The visit reflected on the successes that have been achieved across the breadth of the bilateral relationship since diplomatic relations were established 45 years ago, and set an ambitious agenda for the future.
New Zealand was honoured to host the Premier. New Zealand and China have a trailblazing relationship, including in trade, international development and multilateral cooperation. If you are interested, you can learn about the historic set of ‘firsts’ that New Zealand and China have achieved across the bilateral relationship, click here.
Our connection with China is longstanding, dating back to the 1840s when the first generation of Chinese migrants arrived on our shores. Since that time, the Chinese community has grown to form an integral part of New Zealand. Premier Li was able to share in the community spirit and genuine friendship that has developed between our two peoples, especially during his visit to a photography exhibition detail the life of New Zealander Rewi Alley, an important foreign figure in China.
The visit allowed both governments to chart a course for the future. Many arrangements and detailed action plans were signed during the two day-visit, and you can find a full list of all the announcements here(external link), across the breadth of the relationship, including in market access, climate change and tourism. The first round of FTA upgrade negotiations was announced for April, and an increased number of direct flights was agreed. New Zealand meat exporters will soon be able to export chilled meat to China, and New Zealand trusted exporters will soon start experiencing faster border clearance times in China, as a result of a new trusted exporters scheme.