Chinese President Xi Jinping. Photo / AP
OPINION
Chris Hipkins was super-careful to dodge the curveball thrown his way when reporters asked him this week if he agreed with Joe Biden that Xi Jinping was a dictator.
Hipkins didn’t equivocate: “No, and the form of government that China has is a matter for the Chinese people,” he said.
Quite why anyone would expect the Prime Minister to undermine his official visit to China by agreeing with the Biden label is another matter. Seriously.
But with less than a week before he meets Xi at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Hipkins is focused on success, not sabotage. Enough of that has been happening domestically within his own ranks this year — the visit will at the very least provide a breakpoint in the prevailing political narrative on that score.
Tomorrow, he will lead one of the largest official delegations to leave New Zealand in recent years.
It will be the first time a New Zealand Prime Minister has met China’s political leaders in Beijing since April 2019.
This is a testing time for small countries like New Zealand as the two elephants of global trade — China and the United States — continue to jostle for advantage.
When Jacinda Ardern visited Beijing in a whirlwind visit in April 2019, the trip was painted as a “reset” after a period of strained relations. The “trade war” between the two elephants was well under way. But there was no talk of that potentially escalating into outright war.
In the intervening time, we have had a global pandemic, supply chain ructions, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, international sanctions against Russia, an energy crisis in Europe, the introduction of industrial policies in the United States in response to China’s commercial success, tensions over Taiwan and a world now grappling with global inflation.
These tensions are also impacting China — particularly the Chinese economy, where youth unemployment is a concern.
The theme of Hipkins’ visit is “reconnecting”.
Not only will the Prime Minister have top-level political meetings, but he has also been invited to join the opening session of “Summer Davos” in Tianjin — a short fast train ride from Beijing.
The title of the session at the World Economic Forum’s “New Champions 2023″ event is pertinent: “Braving the headwinds: Rewiring growth amid fragility”.
In essence, it invites Hipkins and fellow panellists — including Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and Zhang Yuzhuo, chair of China’s State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission — to look at how new opportunities can be developed as the models underlining global growth change.
With the WTO in flux, this is an important conversation to have and one where it is good to have a New Zealand Prime Minister at the table.
At the bilateral meetings at the Great Hall of the People, the focus will in reality be on deepening the relationship from a business perspective, international co-operation on climate change and trade, and some new takeouts.
Officials have been in Beijing conferring with counterparts in preparation for the meeting with Xi and Premier Li Qiang.
The talking points on both sides are already well-rehearsed, as evident in Ambassador Wang Xiaolong’s comment in advance of the visit that the two countries should “refrain from interfering with each other’s internal affairs, and conduct dialogue on the basis of equality and mutual respect”. Talking “truth to power” on any human rights issues will wait for the face-to-face meeting itself.
From a China perspective, it is looking to New Zealand to support its bid to join the Digital Economy Partnership Agreement (Depa).
On the sidelines of the recent Apec trade ministers meeting in Detroit, Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao said the Chinese side and Depa members had worked effectively and made positive progress.
New Zealand, Chile and Singapore founded the agreement.
It is inevitable this will come up in discussions, at least at ministerial level, along with China’s bid to join the CPTPP (Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership). Trade and Export Growth Minister Damien O’Connor will chair a meeting of CPTPP Ministers in Auckland in three weeks’ time.
Among matters that are likely to get positive attention are the five-year roadmap for greater co-operation between New Zealand and China on science and technology. This was agreed to in a well-received visit by China’s Minister of Science and Technology Wang Zhigang in May. Staking out the next steps on the free-trade agreement upgrade is important.
There are some 30 businesspeople on the official delegation. Others will join at various events in China.
Highlights are expected to include a sustainability forum where Air New Zealand chief executive Greg Foran is expected to outline some of the groundbreaking work the airline has under way to reduce emissions. There will also be a business lunch briefing with the NZ Business Roundtable in China where Shanghai-based leaders of some key New Zealand companies in China — Zespri, Fonterra, Silver Fern Farms and Primary Collaboration (NZ) — will take part, as well as a showcase of New Zealand products to which many Chinese media and influencers have been invited.
The visit will boost New Zealand’s profile and after a few hard years doing business against the strictures of the pandemic, this will be worthwhile.
- Fran O’Sullivan will be travelling to China with the New Zealand delegation.