Luxon says China relationship is "complex but mature" and goes beyond trade

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon will meet with President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang next week in his first official visit to China since taking office in late 2023.

The visit will focus on growing the already $38 billion trade relationship by promoting tourism and education connections — neither of which fully recovered after the covid pandemic. 

“This visit is about backing the recovery of international education and tourism and putting New Zealand front and centre as a world-class destination for travel, study, and long-term connection,” Luxon said in a statement. 

While goods trade between New Zealand and China has remained robust, other parts of the relationship have become more strained. The Government has been more willing to criticise China’s geopolitical behaviour and the Chinese government has been willing to respond.

The most visible point of tension was when three Chinese warships sailed through the Tasman Sea earlier this year, likely in response to Kiwi and Australian vessels passing through the Taiwan Strait. 

Luxon told reporters there was more to the NZ–China relationship than just trade. It was a key actor in the global geopolitical landscape as the second biggest population and economy.

In a statement he said: “The challenging global outlook makes it vital that we are sharing perspectives and engaging China on issues that matter to New Zealand.”

It is likely that some of these discussions will be difficult, including those around defence decisions and China’s efforts to gain influence over smaller Pacific nations.

Luxon will travel straight from Beijing to Europe and the NATO summit, where he may rub shoulders with US President Donald Trump — who has made competition with China the top priority of his foreign policy.

How closely New Zealand should align itself with the United States has been a point of contention, with the Labour Party teaming up with business leaders to oppose joining AUKUS or otherwise harming the trade relationship. 

Former Prime Minister Helen Clark and former National Party leader Don Brash coauthored a letter calling for Luxon to use his trip to “reaffirm NZ’s commitment to its strategic partnership with China”.

The letter authors said they would not be surprised if China concluded the special relationship it has had with NZ since the 2000s was no longer valued by the Government.

Luxon told reporters his message on the trip would be that the NZ–China relationship was “important and mature”. 

“We want to see stability and security and peace in the region. They are a key actor to enable a lot of that. Both with issues around the world, but also within our own region,” he said. 

“For us, we will very much say look, we've got a long standing, complex relationship, but it's actually a mature relationship, and there's still a lot of areas for us to continue to work together, and we're excited about that.”

Global flashpoints 

As if to demonstrate the instability of the geopolitical relationship globally, the Prime Minister's press conference was delayed, likely so he could be briefed on Israel’s military strikes on Iran.

Early this morning, Israel launched a major attack aimed at Iran’s nuclear program which is reported to be getting closer to being capable of building nuclear warheads. The strikes also targeted the homes of Iranian military commanders and nuclear scientists.

The United States was not involved in the strikes but has withdrawn diplomats and other civilians from the region in anticipation of counter-attacks from Iran. It is unclear whether the US will use its forces in the region to defend Israel, as it did in a previous skirmish. 

Oil prices have spiked almost 7% as investors assess the risk of a regional war breaking out between Israel and Iran, which could potentially draw in other countries.

China buys the vast majority of Iran’s oil and sells them materials which can be used for military purposes—such as building missiles—although it doesn’t sell them weapons. 

The two countries have a strategic partnership and are part of a loose coalition, alongside Russia and North Korea, which resists Western global power.