- Rt Hon Chris Hipkins
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins met with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress Zhao Leji at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing today.
"New Zealand's relationship with China is one of our most significant and wide-ranging so I was pleased to meet President Xi and reaffirm our important bilateral ties," Chris Hipkins said.
"I emphasised the key focus of our visit was to reaffirm our close economic relationship by supporting businesses renew their connections with Chinese counterparts and helping grow new ones to support New Zealand's economic recovery.
"We discussed many aspects of our relationship, including our significant economic ties and also people-to-people, cultural connections, and areas of direct bilateral cooperation like trade, education, science and innovation, agriculture and tourism.
"I also raised our shared interest in a stable and prosperous region, reiterating the importance of working together to support the international rules-based order and the constructive role China can play in addressing shared global challenges such as climate change, and the war in Ukraine.
"We also engaged on areas where our cultures and political systems differ, and I reiterated we will always advocate for approaches and outcomes that reflect New Zealand's independent foreign policy or interests and values, in a respectful but consistent way.
"Chairman Zhao and I also had the opportunity to meet this morning and discussed the importance of ongoing Parliamentary exchanges as strand of the bilateral relationship," Chris Hipkins said.
Earlier in the day, the Prime Minister attended the opening of the World Economic Forum "Annual Meeting of New Champions" in Tianjin, and participated in a Panel appearing alongside the leaders of Viet Nam and Barbados, and WTO Director-General, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala," Chris Hipkins said.
Chris Hipkins also attended a partnership signing event between four key New Zealand exporters and their Chinese counterparts, helping New Zealand businesses to reconnect and deepen relationships in this important market.
Prime Minister Hipkins will meet with Chinese Premier Li Qiang tomorrow for further substantive discussions.
