customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

sponsorType

authorLocations

authors

paywallTypes

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

factSheets

series

knowledgeQuestion

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

copyrighted

customTimezone

liveContents

Agence France-Presse

Chinese Premier Li Qiang said on Thursday his nation’s differences with New Zealand must not become a “chasm”, pledging greater trade and “friendship” after touching down in Wellington for rare bilateral talks.
Li is embarking on a six-day tour of New Zealand and Australia, key trading partners that have become increasingly vocal critics of China’s expanding influence in the South Pacific.
“It is natural that we don’t always see eye-to-eye with each other on everything,” Li told reporters after a closed-door meeting with New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon.
“But such differences should not become a chasm that blocks exchanges and cooperation between us.”
Luxon said he used the meeting to highlight sensitive issues such as foreign interference and recent escalations in the South China Sea.
“I raised with Premier Li a number of issues that are important to New Zealanders and which speak to our core values, including human rights and foreign interference.”
Second only to President Xi Jinping in China’s political hierarchy, Li is the most senior figure to arrive on official business in New Zealand and Australia since 2017.
Over six days, he will set foot in five different cities, meet two prime ministers, hold talks with a string of business leaders, and engage in China’s trademark “Panda diplomacy”.

A noisy crowd greeted Li as his motorcade pulled into the Intercontinental Hotel in the heart of New Zealand’s capital Wellington.
Cheering supporters banged drums and waved banners, while a smaller group of shouting protesters clambered to get a look at his car.
Ahead of the bilateral meeting, Li said he was aiming to renew China’s “traditional friendship” with New Zealand, promising opportunities to bolster trade, tourism and investment.
He said China is committed to working with the New Zealand government to upgrade the comprehensive strategic partnership that was agreed in 2014.
China has invited New Zealand to be a guest country at the China International Import Expo, which will be held in Shanghai in November. The two countries agreed to negotiations to increase trade in services.
“China is ready to tap the potential for working with New Zealand in emerging areas such as digital economy, green economy, new energy vehicles, and creative industries, and to actively participate in transport investment and in infrastructure development,” Li said.
China is also ready to discuss more measures to facilitate two-way travel and will extend unilateral visa-free treatment to New Zealanders, he said.
China’s relationship with both hosts has shifted drastically in the seven years since Li’s predecessor toured Down Under.
New Zealand, long seen as one of China’s closest partners in the region, has become increasingly bold in its criticism of Beijing’s role in the South Pacific.
Meanwhile, Australia has grown closer to the United States in response to China’s expanding military might.
But there remains one constant: China is still, by far, Australia and New Zealand’s largest export market.
New Zealand has been mulling whether to play a limited role in the Aukus security pact between Washington, London and Canberra – a deal seen as key to countering China’s military expansion.
At the same time, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has called out China’s attempts to bolster its security footprint in the Pacific Islands.
Luxon said China’s delegation had “raised their concerns” about the Aukus deal during the bilateral discussions.
Geopolitical analyst Geoffrey Miller said that Li’s visit carried a not-so-subtle message: “Don’t put it all at risk.”
Miller, from Wellington’s Victoria University, said Li would dangle trade “carrots” in an attempt to soften New Zealand’s stance.
Beijing was likely to offer incentives to show New Zealand “what it could lose” if it agrees to join Aukus in developing defence technology, he said.

New Zealand was one of the first developed nations to sign a free-trade deal with Beijing, and today almost a full third of its goods exports are shipped to China.
Chinese consumers have a voracious appetite, in particular, for New Zealand’s premium meat, dairy and wine.
Li will fly out of New Zealand’s commercial hub Auckland on Saturday morning, bound for the southern Australian city of Adelaide.
Sitting on the doorstep of the famed Barossa winemaking region, Adelaide is the hometown of Foreign Minister Penny Wong, who is credited with helping stabilise relations between Canberra and Beijing.
Australian wine was among a slew of commodities effectively barred from China at the height of a rancorous and years-long trade dispute that only recently started to subside.
While wine, coal, timber, barley and beef exports have largely resumed, trade barriers remain for Australian rock lobster.
One of Li’s first stops will be Adelaide Zoo, widely seen as a sign that giant pandas Wang Wang and Fu Ni, who have been loaned there from China since 2009, may be extending their stay abroad.
Additional reporting by Bloomberg


Noisy, smelly yellow-eyed penguin wins New Zealand’s bird of the year

US, Britain stress unity towards China as new strategic dialogue opens in London

Where do supermodels go on holiday? From Kylie Jenner, Gigi Hadid and Emily Ratajkowski’s Balearic breaks, to Gisele Bündchen’s Costa Rican jungle escape

Cambodia targets direct flights to Melbourne to boost trade, education ties with Australia

New Zealand

Premier Li Qiang pledges more trade as China extends visa-free travel to New Zealanders

New Zealand’s Prime Minister Christopher Luxon (right) with Chinese Premier Li Qiang at Government House in Wellington on June 13. Photo: AFP

Members of the Chinese community gather to welcome Premier Li Qiang in Wellington. Photo: AFP

Chinese Premier Li Qiang watches a dancer perform during a Maori ceremonial welcome in Wellington. Photo: AFP

As Li Qiang visits, ‘persistent duality’ of Australia’s China thinking on show

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese shakes hands with Chinese Premier Li Qiang on the sidelines of the East Asia Summit in Jakarta last year. Photo: Xinhua

Giant panda Fu Ni pictured on June 1. She and her mate Wang Wang have been on loan to Adelaide Zoo from China since 2009. Photo: Xinhua

A view of Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Opera House. The ACRI-BIDA poll revealed resurgent Australian concerns about Chinese buyers driving up house prices. Photo: Bloomberg

Will Philippines’ new defence deals with New Zealand, Japan provoke China?

 A coastguard vessel the Philippines newly acquired from Japan arrives at dock in Manila in 2022. Photo: AFP

Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo (right) and New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters before their bilateral meeting in Manila on Monday. Photo: AP

(From left) Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr, US President Joe Biden, and Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida arrive for a trilateral meeting at the White House in April. Photo: Bloomberg

Is Australia racist? ‘Intense’ migration debate sets tone for 2025 election

Neo-Nazi protesters flash Nazi salutes outside Parliament House in Melbourne last year. Photo: EPA-EFE

A man poses for a selfie in front of Australia’s Sydney Opera House last month. The leader of Australia’s opposition has blamed migrants for Australia’s housing shortage. Photo: Reuters

Neo-Nazi protesters flash Nazi salutes outside Parliament House in Melbourne last year. A top political commentator faced a backlash from right-wing pundits recently when she stated publicly that Australia was a racist country. Photo: EPA-EFE

Opposition leader Peter Dutton criticised planned migration figures in the government’s new federal budget for being too high. Photo: EPA-EFE

Mounted police officers keep protesters apart in Melbourne, Australia, in 2019 amid rallies and counter rallies by nationalists and anti-racism demonstrators. Photo: EPA-EFE

Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane. Australia’s government has cut migration numbers in the past few months, including quotas for international students. Photo: Shutterstock

Pedestrians on Queen Street in Auckland. New Zealand’s latest census showed its population is diversifying. Photo: Bloomberg

A traveller pushes a luggage cart at Sydney Airport. Skilled migrants are a top priority for Australia. Photo: Bloomberg

News

Asia

Australasia

Li told Prime Minister Christopher Luxon differences between the two sides should not become a ‘chasm’ as he promised more investment


Li told Prime Minister Christopher Luxon differences between the two sides should not become a ‘chasm’ as he promised more investment.
