Dr Yang Jian,

Hon Simon Bridges,

Hon Simeon Brown,

Hon Paul Goldsmith,

Hon Melissa Lee, 

Deputy Mayor Desley Simpson,

Members of Parliament,

Chairman Ren Hongbin,

Ladies and gentlemen, dear friends,

Good evening! To begin with, I would like to thank the New Zealand Chinese Business Club for inviting me and my colleagues to join you at this gala dinner, an annual event for the Club, and also inaugurating this year the FNZCBA. I would also like to acknowledge everyone here this evening for your long term support for and contribution to the development of  China-New Zealand relationship, particularly the economic and trade cooperation between the two countries. 

I would like to start my remarks this evening with three observations on the state of the Chinese economy, a subject of considerable interest, I suppose, given its importance to NZ with China being its biggest trading partner, and to the world economy, particularly at a time when it is confronted with a number of uncertainties and headwinds. 

My first observation is that the China’s economy remains robust and the drivers for its growth have become more diverse and sustainable. In 2023, defying both internal and external downward pressures, the Chinese economy rebounded, with gross domestic product surpassing 126 trillion yuan, an increase of 5.2% annually, faster than most other major economies in the world. According to the latest data by the National Bureau of Statistics of China, China's GDP grew by 5.3% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2024, faster than widely anticipated. Two sectors stand out. One is manufacturing, which grew at 6.1%. The other is external trade, which saw a 5% rebound, remarkable given the continued weakness in global demand. 

It is notable that after years of double-digit growth, China’s economy has become so large that each percentage point of its growth today is equivalent to 2 percentage points of growth ten years ago. 

Looking into the future, as we speak, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank are having their spring meeting in Washington, and only yesterday the former released its latest report on global economic outlook. And in that report, it forecasts that for the next five years, meaning through 2029, China will contribute at least 21% of global growth. That's a bigger share than the all the G7 countries combined. 

More importantly, the drivers powering the growth of the Chinese economy are also changing, as new technological advances and industrial transformation stand to increase the level of productivity nationwide. What we are witnessing in China today, is not only continued and re-accelerating quantitative expansion but also, at a more fundamental level, major qualitative  upgrading and restructuring.  

China is home to over 200 industry clusters. With its large scale, complete categories and strong supporting capacity, its industrial system can meet our own needs for development, and will contribute at the same time to the building of resilient and smooth global supply chains.  China boasts a high-caliber labor force and hard-driving entrepreneurs, with the demographic dividend turning into a talent dividend. In terms of innovation capacity, China’s total input in R&D and investment in the high-tech sectors have been growing rapidly, incubating continually new products and new business forms. In a word, the fundamentals sustaining the country’s long-term growth have not changed. With a solid foundation, there is still huge room for strong growth for many year to come.

My second observation is that China has a maturing super-sized market. Delivering modernization to more than 1.4 billion people, a population larger than that of all developed countries combined, will generate massive, irreplaceable demand, the focus of which is shifting steadily from quantity to quality, driving consumption upgrade for a growing range of products and services. This comes on top of the extra demand arising from continued urbanization and accelerated green transformation in China, which promises huge potential for high-quality investment and consumption. 

My third and final observation on the Chinese economy is that China remains firmly committed to opening up and will continue to share our development opportunities with the rest of the world. Opening up is a firm and fundamental choice China has made, which enjoys consensus support across the nation. No matter how the international situation evolves, China will remain committed to pursuing development with its doors wide open, supporting an open world economy and promoting open, inclusive and universally beneficial economic globalization.

Since its accession to the WTO, China has worked to pursue progressively higher-standard opening up. One important indicator is the 22 FTAs we have signed with 29 countries and regions around the world including New Zealand. Furthermore, China has applied for membership of CPTPP and DEPA, which will further expand its institutional opening up and create more market opportunities for their members and beyond. 

We should be aware, though, that as China’s economy develops and its reform and opening up deepens, doing business in the country will inevitably become more competitive. As the first western developed country to have signed an FTA with China, New Zealand  enjoys first-mover advantages on the Chinese market. Together with the national branding and the reputation for NZ businesses and products thanks to years of cultivation by the NZ government and businesses, NZ is well placed to capitalize on those advantages for mutual benefit and greater development. But honestly, as I have been advising my Kiwi friends recently, nothing can be taken for granted. With competition ramping up and market sentiments shifting quickly, you will have to work very hard just to stay where you are in the competition. To beat the competition, however, you have to work even harder.  

Ladies and gentleman,

Economic and trade cooperation is a key pillar of the mutually important relationship between our two countries. For many years, China has been New Zealand’s largest trading partner, export market, and import source, bringing tangible benefits to our two peoples and underpinning our exchanges and cooperation in other areas. 

It is equally important to realize that our economic and trade cooperation does not happen in a vacuum, and that it has also benefited from the growth of the broader relationship, including in particular the shared commitment to mutual respect, mutual accommodation and mutual benefit, and the management of differences through constructive dialogues, without which the exponential growth in two-way trade would not have been possible.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of President Xi Jinping’s last state visit to New Zealand and the establishment of the China-New Zealand Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, yet another milestone in the history of our relationship. It is also an important opportunity for the two sides to take stock of the achievements, reflect on the lessons we have learned, and charter the course for our future cooperation. 

For China, no matter how the international landscape may evolve and whatever domestic changes may occur in our respective countries, we value the hard-won progress in our relationship, would want to regard New Zealand as a good friend and partner. And we stand ready to work with the New Zealand side to take the relationship to the next level.

Although our circumstances, including stages of development and social systems are very different, there are neither historical grievances or conflicts in interest between the two countries. What we share in common far exceed the differences between us. For example, both China and New Zealand value peace and cooperation, and both support multi-lateralism, open regionalism and free trade, while neither of us wants to see tensions or conflicts in the region or the world. These are among the most important common denominators between us, on the basis of which the two countries could and should work together to add more certainty to our respective development, and peace, stability and common prosperity in the region and beyond. 

Like it or not, the future of our world depends as much on the way countries that are different deal with one another as on the way countries that are alike work together. China and NZ have created many firsts in China’s relations with western countries, we could as well set an example for how that could be done, in our own respective and common interest, and for the sake of the wider region and the world. 

We must go all out to find a way. For the alternative, namely, divisiveness, confrontation, or even conflict, and the consequent disruption and destruction, is simply unacceptable.  

Looking ahead, the two sides could prioritize the following areas of cooperation. 

First, continue the momentum in high-level exchanges. Not long ago, Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi paid a successful visit to New Zealand. New Zealand Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has just wrapped up his visit to China. The two sides are working on further higher-level visits within the course of this year. I believe that such exchanges will help to steer at the strategic level the development of the bilateral relationship in the right direction and inject new impetus cooperation in various fields.

Second, strengthen mutually beneficial practical cooperation, by growing further our bilateral trade in both goods and services. This is largely in line with the goal the National-led coalition government has set for itself, i.e., to double the export of New Zealand in the next 10 years. And in that process, I think how we might work together between New Zealand and China could have a significant role to play. We could also advance our practical cooperation by going into new, non-traditional areas like innovation, green transition to a low-carbon economy,  infrastracture development, and building stable and resilient supply chains. One of the questions that was raised to Hon Simeon Brown, was about how we might work in the space of infrastructure. That’s an interesting question that has yet to be answered, not only conceptually, but more importantly, at a practical level, to make things happen, and to help to make a difference in this country. At the China-NZ Business Council forum yesterday, CCPIT colleagues briefed their Kiwi counterparts on the annual supply chain expo, which offers new opportunities for the business communities to work together in this emerging and increasingly important area.   

Third, deepen proactively the people-to-people links, which lies at the very heart of the relationship, as they are indispensable for promoting mutual understanding and friendship, and for generating opportunities for cooperation.

Ladies and gentlemen,

The progress in our bilateral relationship are the result of concerted efforts of all walks of life from the two sides, and its future also depends on their continued joint efforts, in which business leaders, particularly those from the Chinese community present here this evening are uniquely placed to play a critical role, as stakeholders, and more importantly, as essential participants and contributors.  

With those, I would like to conclude my remarks and wish today’s event a full success. May your businesses boom and grow with success. To add another level as ambassador, may China-New Zealand relationship and cooperation continue to prosper and thrive. Thank you.