June 12, 2023

New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins announced on Monday he would visit China in late June with a trade delegation, the first prime ministerial visit to China since the pandemic, at a post-Cabinet press conference. 

Amid a turbulent global landscape and the US strong push for its "Indo-Pacific Strategy" in the South Pacific, China and New Zealand demonstrated how countries of different histories, cultures and systems can seek common ground while reserving differences so that both can benefit and jointly inject positivity into the region and the world, Chinese analysts said on Monday. 

Hipkins described China ties as "most significant, wide-ranging and complex" on Monday, saying, "Our trade links, underpinned by our recently upgraded free trade agreement, have proven incredibly resilient in recent years." 

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