New Zealand's governor-general Michael Hardie Boys' state visit to China will be "important to bilateral relations" by reaffirming the pursuit of a sound bilateral and multi-lateral cooperation, New Zealand ambassador to China, Peter Adams, said Wednesday.
He told a press conference that the visit, the first ever state visit to China by a governor-general of New Zealand, is expected to "set a seal on high-level contact" and reciprocates the visit by Chinese President Jiang Zemin to New Zealand in September last year. He added that the visit will cement bilateral relations at the highest level between the two governments.
During the trip, which is scheduled from November 30 to December 6, the governor-general will meet with President Jiang, Premier Zhu Rongji, President of the Supreme People's Court Xiao Yang and other high-ranking Chinese officials, the ambassador said.
Although the two countries are different in geography, population and size, they enjoy a good historical and cultural relationship, he said, pointing to the development of bilateral relations since the forging of diplomatic relations in 1972, the growing two-way trade and investment and people-to-people links in recent years.
"For New Zealand, China is the fifth largest trading partner, and tourism and education have recently become important markets," he said, adding that New Zealand's exports to China till June went up by 18 percent year-on-year to around 750 million NZ dollars, and China's exports to New Zealand grew by roughly 30 percent on yearly basis.
New Zealand mainly exports wool, dairy products, seafood, timber products and fuel to China. China's exports consist of textile products, clothing, footwear, accessories, machinery and other industrial goods.
Moreover, China has a large investment in New Zealand forestry. New Zealand invests in leather, food and high-tech industries in China, Adams said, noting that on bilateral trade, the two countries have had a "diverse and growing relationship."
He said that more than 5,000 Chinese students are studying in New Zealand, and tourism has also increased rapidly since China approved a destination status to New Zealand. Visitors from China to New Zealand increased by 60 percent last year.
The two countries have regular consultations on security, disarmament and trade and economy, and will extend a similar mechanism to the agricultural sector. The two countries have also increased cooperation in regional and global forums, including the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meetings, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) regional forums and the United Nations.
"New Zealand is a practitioner of the one-China policy, and it shares many common perspectives on regional security issues and on the need for economic integration through APEC and the World Trade Organization (WTO)," he said.
New Zealand was the first Western country to commence bilateral negotiations with China on China's WTO entry, and also the first Western country to conclude such talks in 1997. Therefore, New Zealand is keen to see China join the WTO as soon as possible, he said.
(People's Daily 11/29/2000)
