New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Chinese President Xi Jinping, in their first meeting, pledged cooperation at an Asia-Pacific summit in Peru.
“I look forward to us to continuing to build on our partnership and our friendship,” Luxon told Xi on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Lima, in remarks broadcast on the website of Radio New Zealand on Saturday.
Xi said through a translator: “China is ready to work with your government to create more firsts for our relations.”
Luxon, a former airline executive, said he had visited China many times and understood it well, but the meeting was the first for Xi and Luxon, RNZ reported. Luxon’s centre-right National Party formed a government in October last year.
In June, New Zealand and China signed agreements on trade and climate change, during a trip by Chinese Premier Li Qiang to New Zealand, the highest level Chinese visit to the Pacific island nation in seven years.
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China is New Zealand’s largest trading partner with bilateral trade totalling nearly NZ$38 billion ($23.27 billion).
New Zealand’s foreign minister has called the bilateral relationship “complex”, citing differences of opinion on issues such as Taiwan and the treatment of Muslim minorities in China’s Xinjiang region.
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