Joyce to visit China

Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce leaves tomorrow for his second visit to China this year, where he will represent the Government at the New Zealand-China Partnership Forum in Beijing. He will also visit Guangzhou in southern China, a significant economic player in the Chinese economy and a top source of Chinese students and tourists in New Zealand.

The Partnership Forum, which is running for the second time, is jointly organised by the New Zealand China Council and the China Centre for International Economic Exchanges. It will feature discussion among senior delegates from New Zealand and China on a range of topical issues key to the New Zealand-China relationship.

“The purpose of the Forum is to showcase the deepening strategic economic and trade partnership between New Zealand and China,” Mr Joyce says. “Participants from both countries, representing the public and private sectors, will explore the opportunities and challenges at the forefront of the relationship, and contribute to building the foundation for the relationship into the future.

“It is important that New Zealand continues to be a visible and committed partner of choice for China, our second largest goods and services trading partner and a key contributor to New Zealand’s economic prosperity. The Partnership Forum will include sessions on food safety, tourism, investment, and people-to-people links.”

While in Beijing, Mr Joyce will meet with senior Chinese leaders and business contacts to discuss China’s economic reform agenda, the upgrade of the New Zealand-China FTA, and opportunities for strengthening two-way trade and investment.

In Guangzhou, Mr Joyce will meet provincial leaders to discuss opportunities for greater education, tourism and science collaboration. 

“Guangdong province is our largest source of Chinese students, a major source of tourists and a significant destination for New Zealand exports,” Mr Joyce says. “China is also a key strategic science and innovation partner for New Zealand, and we are seeing increasing numbers of research collaborations between New Zealand researchers and their partners in Guangdong.”

Mr Joyce will also visit the Guangzhou Institute of Biomedicine and Health, which is partnering with the University of Auckland’s Maurice Wilkins Centre on anti-cancer drug research.

This will build on a series of successful visits this year by New Zealand senior leaders to China, including by the Governor-General, the Deputy Prime Minister, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and the Minister of Trade.

He returns to New Zealand next Friday.