On September 28, 2011, visiting Chinese Vice Premier Hui Liangyu held talks with New Zealand Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Bill English in Wellington.

During the meeting, the Chinese vice premier said, with joint efforts, the two countries have witnessed deepening political mutual trust and further development of friendly exchanges and pragmatic cooperation in various fields. Since the successful implementation of the China-New Zealand free trade agreement, bilateral economic and trade ties have been developing rapidly, oriented toward all-round, multi-level and broad areas, Hui added. Hui believed that the two sides, through joint efforts and deepening pragmatic cooperation based on the principles of win-win and mutual benefits, will reach the goal of doubling bilateral trade volume by 2015, set by the leaders of both countries.

The Chinese vice premier said humanities exchanges serve as an important bridge for enhancing friendship between the people of the two countries. In recent years, the two sides have conducted active and fruitful exchanges in the areas of science and education, culture and tourism. The two countries need to further push forward exchanges and cooperation at various levels and enhance mutual understanding and friendship among the youth so as to lay a more solid social and public opinion basis for the development of bilateral relations, Hui added.

The Chinese vice premier also briefed his New Zealand counterpart about China's agricultural development and strengthening the monitoring of food safety. As New Zealand boasts rich expertise and advanced technology in agriculture and food safety, China and New Zealand can further deepen cooperation in such areas, said the Chinese vice premier.

The New Zealand deputy prime minister shared identical view on bilateral ties. He said the current development of New Zealand-China relations enjoys a gratifying momentum with frequent exchanges between the leaders of the two countries. Exchanges and cooperation in various fields have been developing rapidly and achieved encouraging results. He said the bilateral free trade agreement has not only brought about tangible benefits to both peoples, but also pushed forward bilateral ties. New Zealand attaches great importance to its relations with China, and is optimistic about the prospects of bilateral cooperation. New Zealand is ready to join hands with China to further promote cooperation in various fields on the existing basis and raise bilateral friendly ties to a new level, said English.

Prior to their talks, Hui and English attended the signing ceremony of cooperation agreements on water resources, broadcasting, plants quarantine, post-disaster reconstruction and energy cooperation.