Nanaia Mahuta heads to China for first ministerial visit since 2019

Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta will visit China. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta departs for Beijing on Tuesday for the first ministerial visit to China since 2019.

Mahuta will meet China’s new foreign minister Qin Gang.

The meeting will come at the same time as China’s President Xi Jinping is set to meet Russia’s President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, in what could see deepening Chinese involvement in the war in Ukraine.

Chinese involvement in the war could raise the uncomfortable question of New Zealand being forced to consider sanctions against the country, the largest trading partner for Aotearoa.

“New Zealand’s relationship with China is one of our most important, complex and wide ranging. Last year we marked 50 years of diplomatic relations between our two countries,” Mahuta said.

“China is integral to New Zealand’s economic recovery but our relationship is far broader - spanning cultural, educational and sporting links.

“I intend to discuss areas where we cooperate, such as on trade, people-to-people and climate and environmental issues. I will continue to advocate for approaches and outcomes that reflect New Zealand’s interests and values, including on human rights. I also intend to raise New Zealand’s concerns about key regional and global security challenges, including the illegal Russian invasion of Ukraine,” Mahuta said.

Mahuta will spend two days in Beijing, where she will “engage with a range of stakeholders in the bilateral relationship”, according to a release from her office. She will also connect with business leaders and hold a breakfast roundtable with women leaders.

A release from Mahuta’s office said the visit would provide an “opportunity to have a constructive discussion across a broad range of areas - both where our interests and values align, like that of climate change, and where they differ”.

Prime Minister Chris Hipkins held out the prospect that he too might visit China later this year, saying he had not taken that off the table.

“I’m not announcing a visit today. There’s still quite a lot of moving parts for my international travel this year,” Hipkins said.