Premier Li arrives in Wellington for a much-anticipated visit
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Chinese Premier Li Keqiang arrives with his wife Cheng Hong in Wellington, New Zealand, March 26, 2017, for an official visit to New Zealand at the invitation of his New Zealand's counterpart Bill English. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn] |
Premier Li Keqiang arrived in Wellington on Sunday to start a four-day visit to New Zealand after his trip to Australia, the first such trip by a Chinese premier in 11 years.
New Zealand Prime Minister Bill English treated Li and his wife Cheng Hong a private dinner. The two leaders will hold formal meetings to discuss a range of issues of common interests and witness the signing of cooperative documents. Li will fly to Auckland to meet with business leaders before heading back to Beijing.
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Chinese Premier Li Keqiang arrives with his wife Cheng Hong in Wellington, New Zealand, March 26, 2017, for an official visit to New Zealand at the invitation of his New Zealand's counterpart Bill English. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn] |
"Premier Li's visit marks the 45th year of diplomatic relations between China and New Zealand...I look forward to discussing with him opportunities for our two countries and the region," English said on his official website.
The two countries have maintained frequent high-level exchanges.
In 2009, Li visited New Zealand as Vice-Premier at the invitation of English, then New Zealand's deputy prime minister.
China is New Zealand's largest trading partner. In addition, more than 400,000 Chinese tourists visited New Zealand last year and nearly 35,000 Chinese students are now studying in the country.
