Don’t worry, Xi tells New Zealand
Print Edition
CHINA’S trade deal with Australia won’t hurt New Zealand, President Xi Jinping said yesterday during his state visit, because demand from the world’s No. 2 economy remains strong.
After China and Australia signed a preliminary free-trade deal earlier this week, Xi said he had been asked if that would have a negative impact on New Zealand, which had signed a free trade agreement with China in 2008.
“China has 1.3 billion people and our market is huge,” Xi said. New Zealand’s dairy products and other exports including wool, beef and seafood remain very popular in China, he told reporters.
“So worries that New Zealand does not have a market for its products in China are totally unnecessary. On the contrary, possibly New Zealand will have to worry about the fact that there is more Chinese demand than you can possibly supply,” he said, drawing laughter from the media in Wellington, New Zealand’s capital.
Xi called on the New Zealand side to guarantee the safety of its exports to China and protect the rights and interests of Chinese consumers.
He also called for more bilateral cooperation in areas such as financial services, information technology, energy conservation, environmental protection and biomedicine.
Specifically, Xi said, China and New Zealand can join together in helping forge a regional free trade arrangement that benefits all parties and in establishing the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank.
Describing the South Pacific as a natural extension of China’s 21st Century Maritime Silk Road initiative, he said Beijing welcomes New Zealand’s participation.
Trade between New Zealand and China has grown rapidly since the 2008 agreement, China’s first free trade pact with a developed nation, and China recently displaced Australia as New Zealand’s largest trading partner. Some New Zealanders have become concerned about the growing level of Chinese investment, but Prime Minister John Key said yesterday that he believes it benefits both countries.
“My view is we’ve got a lot of room to move yet before we would get anywhere near feeling uncomfortable,” he said.
Meanwhile, he vowed to simplify the visa application process for Chinese citizens and lauded China’s efforts in saving energy and cutting emissions.
Xi and Key also witnessed the signing of a number of bilateral cooperation documents in such areas as climate change, education, Antarctica, finance, tourism and food safety. During the talks, the two sides decided to elevate their relationship to a comprehensive strategic partnership.
New Zealand is the second leg of Xi’s three-nation South Pacific tour.
He attended a G20 summit in the Australian city of Brisbane earlier in the trip, which will also take him to Fiji.
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