Since the establishment of the diplomatic ties between the People’s Republic of China and New Zealand in 1972, the trade and economic relations between our two countries have developed smoothly and steadily. With the frequent contacts and exchanges of visits by high-ranking officials of both Governments, the recent years have witnessed an increase in momentum of development in trade and economic cooperation between China and New Zealand.

According to the statistics of China’s Customs, the trade volume between our two countries in 1999 reached $US 824 million, an increase of 20.3% over the previous year. In the field of bilateral investment, New Zealand, as a traditional capital-inflow country, has in the recent years invested actively in China. We appreciate this development trend. Meanwhile the investment from China into New Zealand has increased to US$ 1.03 billion by the end of 1999, and at present New Zealand has become one of China’s largest overseas investment destinations.

China and New Zealand are friendly countries within the Asia-Pacific region. We appreciate the Government of New Zealand attaching great importance to the Asia and Pacific countries. We welcome our New Zealand friends in the industry and business circle, and encourage their increased focus on China. At the same time, the Chinese Government has regarded the South-Pacific region, including New Zealand, as one of the priority regions for the implementation of its market diversification strategy. All these developments clearly show that there is a sound foundation and great potential for further economic and trade cooperation between China and New Zealand. We are fully confident that with the joint efforts by our two governments and people in the economic, trade and business circles in both countries, the bilateral cooperation in these fields will be further developed in the future.