China, NZ pledge to further ties, cooperation

BALI, Indonesia - Chinese President Xi Jinping on Sunday met with New Zealand's Prime Minister John Key, and the two leaders pledged to advance bilateral ties and further cooperation.

China-New Zealand ties, fueled by the "twin engines" of high-level political mutual trust and win-win economic and trade cooperation, are growing soundly, Xi said during talks with Key ahead of the 21st informal economic leaders' meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) slated for Monday and Tuesday on Bali island.

Sharing common or similar positions on many global and regional issues, the two countries respect each other's path of development, and they, at the same time, also try to accommodate the other side's core interests and major concerns, Xi said.

China, for the first time, became the largest trade partner of New Zealand in the first half of this year, Xi noted.

China cherishes its friendly cooperative relations with New Zealand, and stands ready to join hands with New Zealand to deepen cooperation in such fields as trade and economy, investment, livestock farming, environmental protection and tourism in an innovative way, said the Chinese president.

The two sides should also step up cooperation in infrastructure construction, and promote science and technology, people-to-people and defense exchanges, he said.

Xi also urged the two countries to strengthen communication and coordination on issues such as the Doha Round trade talks, climate change and regional cooperation mechanisms, in a bid to constantly enhance China-New Zealand relations.

Key, for his part, said New Zealand and China enjoy sound cooperation in many areas, noting that bilateral ties are continuously advancing to a higher level.

New Zealand highly values its relations with China, and remains committed to strengthening cooperation with China, said Key.

New Zealand hopes to coordinate and cooperate with China on United Nations affairs and supports China's efforts to host next year's informal economic leaders' meeting of the APEC, he said.

Key also briefed Xi on New Zealand's efforts to deal with the food safety issue involving the country's dairy giant Fonterra, and pledged to take strict measures to ensure the quality of dairy products.

Xi stressed that food safety concerns people's health and urged New Zealand to take tough measures to ensure food quality and thus maintain the sound momentum of economic and trade cooperation between the two countries.