On 12 June 2023, New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins announced that he would lead a trade mission to China at the end of this month, including Beijing, Tianjin and Shanghai. According to New Zealand media reports, this will be the first visit to China by a New Zealand prime minister since the outbreak in 2019, and the first trade delegation led by a prime minister to China since 2016.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said China and New Zealand are each other's important partners, and the two countries will celebrate the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties in 2022 and the 10th anniversary of the establishment of China-New Zealand comprehensive strategic partnership in 2024. China is willing to work with New Zealand to maintain high-level exchanges, continuously enhance mutual trust, deepen practical cooperation, push for greater development of China-New Zealand relations and bring more benefits to the two peoples.

At a press conference on the same day, Hipkins said the delegation included not only representatives of New Zealand's traditional export industries such as meat, dairy and timber, but also representatives of other industries such as gaming, education, tourism and healthcare.

"It is also important to support emerging industries such as gaming, health and wellness, and the cosmetics I will be taking to China reflect that... One of our main objectives is to diversify our trading products.

The relationship with China is one of New Zealand's most important, broadest and complex. Speaking about relations with China, Mr Hipkins said: "In recent years, our trade links have proved incredibly resilient, supported by an upgraded China-New Zealand free trade Agreement.

Mr. Hipkins said New Zealand was proud of its steady and consistent dialogue with China. He also pointed out that China-New Zealand relations have always been based on clear positions, and New Zealand will continue to do so.

The New Zealand Prime Minister last visited China in April 2019. During her visit to China at that time, Ardern stressed China-Singapore economic cooperation during her meeting with Chinese leaders, saying that she welcomes investment from Chinese enterprises and that New Zealand will provide a sound business environment for foreign enterprises. Ardern has repeatedly expressed interest in leading a delegation to China during the pandemic, saying in December 2022 that she hoped to lead a trade mission once China's entry policies were relaxed.

According to the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, China is New Zealand's largest trading partner, export market and source of imports.

Data show that China's new exports of main commodities for clothing and mechanical and electrical products, new imports of main commodities for dairy products, wood products, meat and so on. According to Chinese statistics, bilateral trade in goods in 2022 amounted to US $25.15 billion, a year-on-year increase of 1.8%, of which China's new exports to China amounted to US $9.18 billion, a year-on-year increase of 7.4%, and its new exports to China amounted to US $15.98 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 1.1%.

With the growth of China's economy and the continuous development of bilateral economic and trade cooperation, the two countries have developed from a single trade relationship to multi-field, multi-level and multi-form economic and trade cooperation. The new investment in China mainly covers agriculture and forestry, light industry, textile, metallurgy, food processing, medicine, computer and other fields. China's new investments are mainly in dairy, resource development, insurance and construction.

On March 24, 2023, Wang Yi, member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Director of the Foreign Affairs Office of the CPC Central Committee, met with New Zealand Foreign Minister Mahuta in Beijing. Mahuta said that he is glad to see the ambitious goals set by China and that relations with China are very important to New Zealand. New Zealand looks forward to strengthening high-level exchanges with China, deepening cooperation in various fields, creating more firsts and forging a more mature bilateral relationship in the next 50 years.Editor/Ma Xue