Speech To China Business Summit

 Speech To China Business Summit

Ladies and gentlemen, distinguished guests, ate marie, tena koutou katoa, good morning.I am very happy to be here with you once again at my fourth China Business Summit.Thanks again to you, Fran, for being the driving force behind this event.To get more China business latest news, you can visit shine news official website.

As ever, I’m very pleased to see such a range of speakers and participants - this reflects the continuing breadth of engagement between New Zealand and China.I hardly need to tell this audience that it’s been yet another year of change and disruption. But there has of course been progress and cause for optimism too.

Let me first make some comments about the past year for us as a country, and also in our relationship with China.Some of you will remember that when we last spoke I wanted to leave you with three key messages. Today I want to build on those in a more substantive way:

• First, that China’s geostrategic relevance is a reality that no country can ignore;

• Second, that New Zealand and China have very different perspectives on some issues, and we will need to work hard to manage those differences effectively; and

• Third, that there continue to be opportunities for New Zealand and China to work together, particularly in international trade, environment and climate change, and of course in our response to the global pandemic.I’m also going to add a fourth takeaway point to the list this year, and will talk more about that shortly.

Let me start, though, by acknowledging that New Zealand’s relationship with China is one of our most significant.Our Comprehensive Strategic Partnership continues to provide a strong foundation for the relationship. And we remain committed to our one China policy.

Minister Mahuta spoke with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi soon after she took office.Minister O’Connor has also spoken with his Chinese counterpart and he can tell you more about that later this morning.

Just a couple of weeks ago, I gave a presentation – remotely of course – at the invitation of the Chinese government, at the opening plenary of China’s annual Bo’ao Forum hosted by President Xi Jinping.

Trade in goods between our two countries has remained resilient despite the challenges of COVID. While some of our goods exports to China declined in the early months of the pandemic last year, our overall exports have remained strong.Some exports to China – for example, dairy, honey and kiwifruit – increased in value in 2020 on the previous year, despite COVID.

Our two-way trade flows are now well in excess of $30 billion per year.New Zealand food exports remain among the safest and purest in the world, and in great demand, and we are all rightly proud of that.And despite the restrictions placed upon us all by COVID-19, exchanges in agriculture, business, and climate change remain strong.

The successful signing of our FTA upgrade in January will bring benefit on both sides.For New Zealand, it provides new commitments on services markets in China, tariff elimination on wood and paper products, improvements in customs procedures, and new chapters on e-commerce and the environment.

Minister O’Connor will say more on this shortly, but what I will say is that the upgrade ensures that the rules underpinning our bilateral trade are responsive to changing patterns of commerce, up-to-date, and fit-for-purpose.We also welcome the signing of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, with China’s ratification last month.

New Zealand is also well-advanced in our domestic ratification process and we look forward to the early entry into force of both of these important agreements.And beyond this, we are working to increase New Zealand’s long-term resilience and gain better access for New Zealand companies to a diverse range of markets and economic opportunities.