Chinese Premier Li Qiang said on Friday he advocated “dialogue, not confrontation” during a visit to New Zealand, where he raised hopes for new trade routes.
Lee is on a six-day tour of New Zealand and Australia, the most senior official to visit any nation since his predecessor in 2017.
China accounts for 30% of New Zealand’s export earnings, according to World Bank figures, but there are fears this could evaporate if the world’s second-largest economy continues to slow.
The Chinese premier praised the “historic” developments in relations between the two countries over the past decade during a speech before a gala dinner in Auckland hosted by Prime Minister Christopher Luxon.
“We both stressed that countries should live in harmony, engage in dialogue, not confrontation, and have cooperation, not conflict,” Li said.
Luxon, who has raised sensitive issues such as foreign interference and recent escalations in the South China Sea with Li, said the pair had come to a better understanding of their “respective priorities.”
China’s Premier Li visits Auckland, raising hopes for new trade
New Zealand, long seen as one of China’s closest partners in the region, has become increasingly bold in its criticism of Beijing’s expanding influence in the South Pacific.
However, the business remains a priority.
Lee met some of New Zealand’s biggest exporters and most influential companies during the visit, which ends on Saturday when he flies to the South Australian capital Adelaide.
“Great collaboration”
Mark Piper, chief executive of a leading New Zealand government science institute, met the Chinese premier during a tour of an Auckland research facility earlier in the day.
“He was talking about more research collaborations and more exchanges of people, which we’re really interested in,” Piper told AFP.
“He was very big on the partnership, the value that New Zealand can bring to China and that China can bring to New Zealand.”
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New Zealand was one of the first developed nations to sign a comprehensive free trade agreement with Beijing.
Chinese consumers have a voracious appetite for New Zealand’s premium meat, dairy and wine.
Lee highlighted opportunities for trade, tourism and investment when he began his tour in New Zealand’s capital Wellington on Thursday.
However, he warned that emerging differences between the two nations “must not become a gap that hinders exchanges and cooperation between us.”
Source: AFP