Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has concluded the Shanghai leg of his official visit to China, accompanied by Ministers Louise Upston and Mark Mitchell and a delegation of senior New Zealand business leaders from across the food and beverage, health and wellbeing, education, and tourism sectors.
“Our bilateral trade relationship with China is one of our most important, with two-way trade exceeding NZ$39 billion in the year ending March 2025,” said Mr Luxon.
“This relationship accounts for more than 20% of New Zealand’s total goods and services exports.
“It’s been great to see $871 million of commercial agreements signed today between New Zealand businesses and their Chinese partners. This is a clear sign of the strength and momentum in our trade relationship.”
The Government also this week announced it would be making it easier for Chinese nationals to transit via New Zealand by removing the need to get a transit visa, instead being able to get a New Zealanders Electronic Travel Authority (NZeTA), cutting costs and time for visitors.
“This resulted in one of the major announcements in Shanghai, that China Eastern Airlines was launching twice weekly flights to South America via Auckland,” the PM said.
Mr Luxon also participated in a tourism livestream event watched by over 10 million people, to promote New Zealand travel offerings.
“New Zealand welcomed 248,000 visitors from China in the past year, with holiday arrivals up 31 per cent. We’ve made recent changes to visa settings to make it easier for Chinese visitors to enjoy New Zealand’s natural beauty and warm hospitality,” Mr Luxon says.
The PM also visited Fudan University, one of China’s most prestigious academic institutions, to promote New Zealand as a destination for world-class research, study, and partnership.
“We’re focused on deepening our education links through student connections, institutional partnerships, and joint research that benefits both countries,” he said.
Mr Luxon also met with Shanghai Party Secretary Chen Jining to discuss Shanghai as a gateway for a high proportion of New Zealand goods, services and people-to-people flows, and other bilateral issues.
The Prime Minister is now in Beijing, where he will meet with China’s leaders.
