2010-06-17 13:39

AUCKLAND: Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping on Thursday called for more cooperation between China and New Zealand in various fields so as to elevating the bilateral relations up to a higher level.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of China-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement Seminar held in Auckland, Xi, who arrived here Thursday morning for a three-day official visit, told the local business leaders that both China and New Zealand are important countries in the Asia-Pacific region and the further strengthening of exchanges and cooperation in various fields and channels would be conducive not only to the well-being of the two peoples, but also to the economic increase in Asia-Pacific region and the world as a whole.

Xi said there have been frequent exchanges of high level visits and the political basis in bilateral relations is sound and solid. Besides, the economy is highly complimentary to each other with huge potentials in economic and trade cooperation.

Therefore, to promote the comprehensive cooperation in trade and investment fields to a new level, Xi put forward a four-point proposal aiming at pushing forward a stable and comprehensive development of bilateral relations.

The first is to focus on important sectors and explore cooperative potentials. He said New Zealand is rich in resources and advanced in science and technology while China has large markets and cheap laborers with good quality. So the two countries can put the improvement of economic and trade quality as their future focus.

The second is to expand cooperative sectors and enrich its contents. Xi said both countries can make full use of the free trade agreement to expand trade cooperation in all fields, particularly in new energy, green environment, biological technology and high and new technologies, etc.

The third is to deepen regional cooperation and push forward multi-lateral development. Xi said both China and New Zealand can play a bigger role in pushing forward Asia-Pacific regional economic development.

The forth is to enlarge the sphere of exchange and seek a harmonious development. Xi said China is the top source of foreign students and the fastest growing source of foreign tourists in New Zealand. He hopes the two countries can further expand the exchange and cooperation in education, science and technology, culture and tourism.

New Zealand is the third leg of Xi's four-nation tour and he will continue his visit to Australia before heading back to China.