NZ’s Luxon praises Xi after rare Beijing bilateralBen McKayAAPFri, 20 June 2025 3:06PM
China President Xi Jinping has acknowledged at-times strained ties with New Zealand during a bilateral meeting with Chris Luxon in Beijing.
Mr Luxon secured the meeting with the long-serving leader as part of what he hoped would be a trade-focused trip to China this week.
Instead, tensions between his country and the Cook Islands has cast a geopolitical cloud over his meeting with Mr Xi.
New Zealand has cut aid to Cook Islands after accusing it of breaching trust for inking secretly negotiated agreements with China that run contrary to a treaty that it must consult with Wellington over defence and security pacts.
It’s not clear if that was what was Mr Xi was referring to in his welcoming remarks – the only part of their bilateral meeting which was open to media – to Mr Luxon at the Great Hall of the People on Friday.
“(In the) 50 years since the establishment of diplomatic ties, the China-New Zealand relationship has experienced many ups and downs,” Mr Xi said, according to reports.
“But we have always respected each other.”
On Thursday, China Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun suggested displeasure at New Zealand’s response to growing Cook Islands-China ties.
“China’s co-operation with the Cook Islands does not target any third party, and should not be disrupted or restrained by any third party,” he said.
New Zealand, which has a formal alliance with Australia and strong defence links with the west, prides itself on maintaining a strong ties with China.
Chinese leaders, including Mr Xi, have referred to a “relationship of firsts” with New Zealand.
New Zealand was the first western nation to support it joining the WTO in 1997, to designate it a market economy in 2004, to secure a free-trade deal in 2008, and signing on to its Belt and Road infrastructure network in 2017.
The bilateral meeting comes amid a furious debate on the direction of foreign policy in New Zealand.
Previous leaders, including Helen Clark, argue Mr Luxon’s government risks New Zealand’s prosperity by aligning too close to the west and over-militarising the Pacific.
Mr Luxon leaves such debate for his foreign minister, Winston Peters, who says Ms Clark suffers from “relevance deprivation syndrome” and should stay quiet.
Mr Xi met Mr Luxon for the first time last year on the sidelines of the APEC summit, and on Friday, he offered praise for the Kiwi leader.
“I remember that you said that you wish to further advance bilateral relations on the basis of our past partnership and friendship,” he said.
“I appreciate your positive attitude and I’m ready to work together with you for new progress.”
Mr Luxon also personally praised Mr Xi, president since 2013, for strengthening bilateral ties between the two countries.
“The relationship has flourished under your leadership,” Mr Luxon said, keeping his eyes on trade.
“We have big ambitions to grow the New Zealand economy, and building trade between New Zealand and China is a really important contribution to that.”
Before his political engagements in Beijing, Mr Luxon spent three days in Shanghai hawking New Zealand’s produce and services.
His conservative government, which took office in late 2023, has a cornerstone ambition of doubling Kiwi exports within a decade, and China – as the destination for more than 20 per cent of exported Kiwi goods and services – will be essential to reaching that.
Get the latest news from thewest.com.au in your inbox.
Sign up for our emails
Read more on The West Australian
