Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern met with Chinese President Xi Jinping today in Beijing to discuss positive development in the relationship.
“New Zealand’s relationship with China is one of our most important and far reaching,” Jacinda Ardern said.
“It was pleased to meet President Xi during my first official visit to China and to reiterate the importance New Zealand places on the relationship.
“We discussed a range of topics central to our bilateral relationship, and both welcomed the significant growth in recent years of trade, cultural and social ties, and other connections.
“I also raised with President Xi the importance New Zealand places on upgrading and modernising our Free Trade Agreement with China – an ambition that he shared.
“We also discussed our shared interest in strengthening the international rules-based order and on climate change, as an issue of global importance,” Jacinda Ardern said.
While in Beijing, the Prime Minister also invited President Xi for a State visit to New Zealand as part of New Zealand’s hosting of APEC in 2021, and had further substantive discussions with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang.
