On December 9, 2020, Vice Foreign Minister Zheng Zeguang co-chaired virtual China-New Zealand consultations on foreign policies with New Zealand's Secretary of Foreign Affairs and Trade Chris Seed. The two have in-depth exchange of views on bilateral relations and international and regional issues of mutual interest.

Zheng Zeguang said, China and New Zealand are important partners, and the two countries have set many records in China's relations with developed countries. Since last year, the two sides have actively implemented the consensus reached between the leaders of the two countries, and made important progress in various areas of exchange and cooperation. The negotiations on upgrading China-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement have wrapped up, the two-way trade has secured the goal of NZ$30 billion one year ahead of schedule, and the China-New Zealand Year of Tourism has been held. In addition, the two countries have closely cooperated in putting the pandemic under control and reviving economy. Next, China stands ready to work with the new administration of New Zealand to set more records, enhance dialogues and exchanges, foster new growth areas for cooperation, and deliver more outcomes in the comprehensive strategic partnership.

Zheng expressed, as advocates and beneficiaries of multilateralism and free trade, China and New Zealand should maintain communication and coordination on multilateral issues, unequivocally oppose unilateralism and bullying practice, promote the building of an open world economy, and jointly address global challenges such as epidemics and climate change, making contributions to world peace, stability and development. China supports New Zealand in hosting the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting next year.

Chris Seed said, China-New Zealand relations are very mature, and enjoy a sound momentum of development. The two sides respect each other and achieve fruitful outcomes in cooperation in various fields. New Zealand admires China's amazing achievements in the COVID-19 fight and economic recovery, and values China's development, and opportunities created by its opening up. New Zealand hopes to work with China to leverage respective strengths, and conduct close cooperation in trade, culture, technology, and judicial and law enforcement. Furthermore, the two sides need to make full use of multilateral mechanisms, uphold multilateralism and free trade, and jointly tackle global challenges such as climate change.