Prime Minister's Column-New Zealand’s growing relationship with China …

Last week I was traveling across China, Myanmar and Australia attending international meetings such as APEC, the East Asia Summit and the G20.While I was in China I travelled to the Western Chinese city of Chengdu and opened a new Consulate-General post in this fast growing region.

New Zealand is among the first group of countries in the world to open a diplomatic post in Chengdu.

This was a natural continuation of our expanding and increasingly close relationship with China.

China is now New Zealand’s largest export market, as well as our largest source of imports. Two-way trade with China exceeded $20 billion annually in May this year, well ahead of our 2015 target. 

This is why when I travelled to China earlier this year, President of the People’s Republic of China Xi Jinping and I agreed to set a new and more ambitious target of $30 billion by 2020.

New Zealand’s economic prosperity relies on selling our goods and services to the rest of the world, so we are working hard to ensure we have the right level of resources in the right places so we can assist our exporters in the markets they are operating in.

I believe that New Zealand’s growing relationship with China is very important to both countries, and I look forward to seeing the rapid growth of our trading relationship continue over the coming years.

Over the weekend I was in Australia at the G20 with a number of leaders representing the world’s biggest economies, explaining to them why New Zealand is a great place to do business. 

A number of those leaders had approached me about visiting New Zealand around the time of the G20. As a result we were lucky to have a visit from both German Chancellor Dr Angela Merkel and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper late last week. 

Tomorrow I will also have the honour of hosting President Xi and his wife, Madame Peng Liyuan. 

This extended visit is the first visit by a Chinese head of state to New Zealand since President Hu Jintao’s visit in 2003.

I am looking forward to hosting President Xi. It will be a great opportunity to highlight the depth of our strengthening relationship, as well as discuss both the economic and cultural links between our two countries.