Xi's visit to set milestone in China-NZ relations: ambassador

Chinese President Xi Jinping's upcoming visit to New Zealand, aimed at enhancing mutual trust and win-win cooperation, will set a milestone in the development of bilateral relations, according to China's ambassador. [Special coverage]

It will be the first visit by a Chinese head of state to New Zealand in 11 years, and Xi's second trip to the country in four years, Wang Lutong told Xinhua in a recent interview.

"Xi's visit is set to carry forward China-New Zealand friendship, usher in a new era for bilateral ties, and push forward the comprehensive cooperative relations between the two countries," he said.

China-New Zealand relations have developed in leaps and bounds since diplomatic ties were forged 42 years ago, noted Wang.

New Zealand was the first developed nation to wrap up World Trade Organization (WTO) entrance talks with China, the first developed country to recognize China as a market economy, and the first developed nation to sign a free trade agreement (FTA) with China, he added.

This year of 2014 has witnessed an intensive round of high-level visits between China and New Zealand, highly indicative of the constantly strengthening political mutual trust between the two sides, said Wang.

On the economic front, China and New Zealand have seen their cooperation making strides forward. Since the two countries signed an FTA in 2008, bilateral trade has registered an annual increase of over 20 percent, and surpassed 20 billion NZ dollars (16 billion U.S. dollars) so far this year -- a target set to be reached by 2015, according to the ambassador.

China has become New Zealand's largest trading partner, export market and import source, and the latter's export to China accounts for nearly one fourth of its total volume, he added.

Meanwhile, the two countries enjoy thriving people-to-people exchanges. As of August, some 172,000 Chinese people have visited New Zealand this year, making China the second largest source of foreign visitors to the Southwest Pacific nation, said Wang.

In parallel, with the establishment of three Confucius Institutes and 15 Confucius Classrooms in the country, the New Zealanders are showing strong enthusiasm for learning Chinese language and culture, he noted.

To build upon such promising momentum, said the ambassador, Xi's visit will provide the two sides with a great opportunity to bring bilateral relations to a higher level.

To this end, the two countries should make continued efforts to further deepen political mutual trust, expand interaction at all levels and enhance cooperation in economy and trade, said Wang.

In particular, he suggested the two sides seek cooperation in such fields as food safety, agricultural technology, information technology, energy-conservation and environment protection, and biological medicine.

On a broader scale, Wang said China and New Zealand, a newly-elected non-permanent member to the United Nations's Security Council for 2015-2016, should enhance cooperation in multilateral affairs and further enrich their bilateral ties.

Xi is due to arrive in New Zealand Wednesday for a state visit, the second leg of his ongoing three-nation trip, which will also take him to Fiji.