By Alasdair Pal and Lucy Craymer
WELLINGTON (Reuters) -Chinese Premier Li Qiang met New Zealand government and business leaders on Friday, on the second day of a regional tour that includes neighbouring Australia and signals a warming in ties between the Pacific nations and their biggest trading partner.
Li visited the New Zealand Institute for Plant and Food Research, a government agency tasked with promoting the country’s farming, food and beverage industries, before meetings and a dinner with business people, academics and diplomats.
During the visit, Li has promised that Beijing would further expand market access, create a market-oriented and internationalised business environment, and encouraged entrepreneurs to seize opportunities, state media said.
New Zealand and China on Thursday signed bilateral agreements on trade and climate during Li’s trip, the highest level Chinese visit to New Zealand in seven years.
Beijing sees itself as a key part of New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s plan to double exports over the next 10 years.
Already New Zealand’s largest trading partner with two-way trade of nearly NZ$38 billion, New Zealand is also keen to boost trade ties.
However New Zealand has also toughened its stance over the last year, calling out Beijing for hacking the country’s parliament and noting the growing threat China poses to security in the Pacific.
Luxon said following his meeting with Li on Thursday that along with discussing trade, he had also raised concerns about issues such as Chinese interference.
Li’s meeting with New Zealand opposition leader Chris Hipkins was cancelled on Friday, due to Hipkins facing travel issues.
Li is due to travel to Australia on Saturday.
(Reporting by Alasdair Pal in Sydney; Editing by Michael Perry)
