I. Bilateral Political Relationship and major exchange of visits
A. Chinese Visits to New Zealand
Since the establishment of the diplomatic relations between China and New Zealand on 22 December 1972, the bilateral relations between China and New Zealand have witnessed a smooth development with frequent exchanges of visits and contacts between the leaders of the two nations.
Ulanhu, Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress,visited New Zealand from 20 to 27 September,1997. Mr. Ulanfu held separate meetings with Sir. Denis Blundell, Governor General of New Zealand, acting Prime Minister Rt. Hon. B.E. Talboys, and Opposition Leader Wallance Edward Rowling.
In March 1979, Vice Premier Chen Muhua visited New Zealand. During the visit, Mme. Chen met with Sir. Keith Jacka Holyoake, Governor General of New Zealand. Rt. Hon. R. D. Muldoon, Prime Minister of New Zealand, and Rt. Hon. B. E. Talboys, Deputy Prime Minister hosted separate welcoming banquets for Vice Premier Chen. Mme. Chen also met with the Opposition Leader Wallance Edward Rowling.
Vice Premier Li Xiannian visited New Zealand in May 1980 and held separate meetings with Sir. R. D. Muldoon, Prime Minister of New Zealand, and the Opposition Leader Wallance Edward Rowling.
Zhu Xuefan, Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, visited New Zealand from 30 November to 8 December 1982. Mr. Zhu held separate meetings with Sir David Stuart Beattie, Governor General of New Zealand, Sir Robert David Muldoon, Prime Minister of New Zealand, Richard Harrison, Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the Opposition Leader Wallace Edward Rowling.
Hu Yaobang, Secretary General of the Central Committee of the CPC, paid a visit to New Zealand in April 1985. Mr. Hu Yaobang held talks with Rt. Hon. David Russell Lange, Prime Minister of New Zealand, and met with the former Prime Minister Robert David Muldoon.
Vice Premier Wan Li visited New Zealand in September 1986. He held separate meetings with Rt. Hon. David Russell Lange, Prime Minister of New Zealand, Rt. Hon. Geoffrey W. R. Palmer, Deputy Prime Minister of New Zealand, and Sir Gerry Wall, Speaker of the House of Representatives.
In 1987, China and New Zealand agreed to establish a mechanism for the two foreign ministries to conduct annual political consultation at vice ministerial level. The consultation would be held in turns in each other's capital.
Sun Qimeng, Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, paid a visit to New Zealand in August 1988. Mr. Sun met with Rt. Hon. Geoffrey W. R. Palmer, Acting Prime Minister of New Zealand, Rt. Hon. Russell Marshall, Foreign Minister of New Zealand, Opposition Leader James Brendan Bolger, and Sir Kerry Burke, Speaker of the House of Representative of New Zealand.
In November 1988, Premier Li Peng visited New Zealand. Premier Li held talks with Prime Minister David Russell Lange and met with the Most Reverend Sir Paul Alfred Reeves, Governor General of New Zealand, and Opposition Leader James Brendan Bolger.
Vice Premier Zhu Rongji paid a visit to New Zealand in February 1992 at the invitation of New Zealand Government. Vice Premier Zhu held separate meetings with Dame Catherine Tizard, Governor General of New Zealand, Rt. Hon.James Brendan Bolger, Prime Minister of New Zealand, and Opposition Leader Helen Clark. Zhu also had talks with Rt. Hon. Don Mckinnon, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
President Jiang Zemin met with Rt. Hon. James Brendan Bolger, Prime Minister of New Zealand, during APEC leaders informal meetings in Seattle in November 1993.
Tian Jiyun, Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, visited New Zealand in 1994. Tian held meetings with Rt. Hon. James Brendan Bolger, Prime Minister of New Zealand, and Peter Tapsell, Speaker of the House of Representatives.
State Councilor Chen Junsheng visited New Zealand in February 1995.
Vice Premier Zou Jiahua visited New Zealand in June 1995. Zou held meetings with Dame Catherine Tizard, Governor General of New Zealand, Prime Minister Rt. Hon. James Brendan Bolger, and Deputy Prime Minister Rt. Hon. Don Mckinnon.
President Jiang Zemin met with New Zealand Prime Minister James Brendan Bolger in New York in October 1995 when attending the special commemoration conference marking the 50th anniversary of founding of the UN.
Premier Li Peng met with Rt. Hon. Don Mckinnon, Deputy Prime Minister of New Zealand, in Auckland in November 1996 during a stopover on his way to Chile.
Vice Premier Zhu Rongji visited New Zealand in June 1997 at the invitation of New Zealand Government. Zhu held separate meetings with Sir Michael Hardie Boys, Governor General of New Zealand, Prime Minister Rt. Hon. James Brendan Bolger, and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Rt. Hon. Don McKinnon. Vice Premier Zhu also held talks with Rt. Hon. Winston Peters, Treasurer of New Zealand.
President Jiang Zemin met with Rt. Hon. James Brendan Bolger, Prime Minister of New Zealand, during the 5th APEC Leaders Informal Meeting in Vancouver in November 1997.
Li Ruihuan, Chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, visited New Zealand in December 1997. Chairman Li met with Sir Michael Hardie Boys, Governor General of New Zealand, Prime Minister Rt. Hon. Jenny Shipley, Deputy Prime Minister and Treasurer Rt. Hon. Winston Peters, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Rt. Hon. Don Mckinnon and Opposition Leader Helen Clark. Li gave a speech at the reception hosted by Prime Minister Shipley in commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
Tung Chee-Hwa, Chief Executive of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, visited New Zealand in June 1998. Mr. Tung held meetings with Rt. Hon. Jenny Shipley, Prime Minister of New Zealand, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Rt. Hon. Don Mckinnon, Minister of Finance Rt. Hon. Bill Birch and Opposition Leader Helen Clark.
Wei Jianxing, member of the Standing Committee of the Politburo of CPC Central Committee, visited New Zealand in September 1998. Wei met with Sir. Michael Hardie Boys, Governor General of New Zealand, Prime Minister Rt. Hon. Jenny Shipley and other New Zealand leaders.
President Jiang Zemin met with Rt. Hon. Jenny Shipley, Prime Minister of New Zealand, during the 6th APEC Leaders Informal Meeting in Kuala Lumpur in November 1998.
At the invitation of Sir Michael Hardie Boys, Governor General of New Zealand, President Jiang Zemin paid a state visit to New Zealand after attending the APEC Leaders Informal Meeting in Auckland in September 1999. This is the first visit to New Zealand ever by the Chinese head of state. During the visit, President Jiang met with Governor General Boys and held talks with Prime Minister Rt. Hon. Jenny Shipley. Both sides expressed satisfaction with the steady development of the bilateral relations and the positive progress made in the cooperation in various fields over the past 27 years since the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries.
At the invitation of the New Zealand Parliament, Mr. Zhou Guangzhao, Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, paid a visit to New Zealand in February, 2000. In the capital city of Wellington, Mr. Zhou met with Rt. Hon. Jonathan Hunt, the Speaker of the Parliament, Rt Hon. Helen Clark, Prime Minister, Hon. Phil Goff, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Mr Peter Hodgson, Minister of Research, Science and Technology, and Hon. Jenny Shipley, Leader of the Opposition. In Auckland, Mr. Zhou attended the banquet hosted by Hon. Phil Goff, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, met with the Mayor of Auckland, representatives of the New Zealand Chinese and Chinese student.
Mr. Zeng Qinghong, Alternate Member of the Politburo, Member of Secretariat and Minister of the Organization Department of the C.P.C. Central Committee, led a delegation to visit New Zealand in March 2000. Mr Zeng met respectively with Rt. Hon. Helen Clark, Prime Minister, Hon. Phil Goff, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Hon. Margaret Wilson, Attorney-General, Hon. Trevor Mallard, Minister of State Services, Hon. Max Bradford, former Minister of Defense and the representative of Rt. Hon. Jenny Shipley, Leader of the Opposition, and attended the welcoming banquet hosted by Attorney-General Hon Margaret Wilson.
Mr. Li Peng, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of China, held a bilateral meeting with Rt. Hon. Jonathan Hunt, Speaker of the Parliament of New Zealand during the Conferences of Presiding Officers of National Parliaments in September 2000.
Mr. Jia Qinglin, member of the Politburo of the CPC Central Committee, Secretary of CPC Beijing Municipal Committee visited New Zealand in May 2001. Mr. Jia held separate meetings with Rt. Hon. Jim Anderton, Acting Prime Minister, Hon. Phil Goff, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Hon. Parekura Horomia, Minister of Maori Affairs, and Hon. Bill English, Deputy Leader of Opposition.
Buhe, Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress visited New Zealand in December 2001. He met with Rt. Hon. Jonathan Hunt, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Jim Anderton, acting Prime Minister, Hon. Margaret Wilson, the Attorney General, Hon. Matt Robson, Minister of Disarmament and Arms Control, and Hon. Rodger Sowry, Deputy Leader of Opposition.
Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan visited New Zealand in March 2002. Mr. Tang held talks with his New Zealand counterpart Hon. Phil Goff. He also called on the Rt. Hon. Sylvia Cartwright, Governor-General, Rt. Hon. Helen Clark, Prime Minister, Rt. Hon. Jonathan Hunt, Speaker of the House of Representatives, and members of the New Zealand-China Parliamentary Friendship Group.
Mr. Wu Guanzheng, member of the Politburo of the CPC Central Committee, Secretary of the CPC of Shandong Province visited New Zealand in April 2002. He met with Rt. Hon. Jim Anderton, Deputy Prime Minister and Hon. Jim Sutton, Minister of Agriculture and Trade Negotiations.
Mme. Peng Peiyun, Vice Chairperson of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress visited New Zealand in June 2002, and met with Rt. Hon. Jonathan Hunt, Speaker of the House of Representatives of New Zealand.
At the invitation of Rt. Hon. Jonathan Hunt, Speaker of the House of Representatives of New Zealand, Yang Rudai, Vice Chairperson of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference visited New Zealand from 15 to 18 December 2002, and met with Rt. Hon. Helen Clark, Prime Minister and Rt. Hon. Jonathan Hunt, Speaker of the House of Representatives. Mr Yang attended the celebration of the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two nations.
On 22 December 2002, Premier Zhu Rongji and Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan exchanged congrutulatory messages on the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries with Rt. Hon. Helen Clark, Prime Minister, and Hon. Phil Goff, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade respectively.
Mr.Li Peng, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress attended the reception held in Beijing celebrating the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
B. New Zealanders' visits to China
The Honourable J. A. Walding, Associate Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of Overseas Trade and Environment of New Zealand, visited China from 27 March to 3 April 1973.
Rt. Hon. R. D. Muldoon, Prime Minister of New Zealand, visited China from 28 April to 5 May 1976.
Sir Roy Jack, Speaker of the House of Representatives of New Zealand, visited China from 5 to 18 April 1977.
Rt. Hon. B. E. Talboys, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of Overseas Trade, visited China from 25 October to 1 November, 1977.
Rt. Hon. B. E. Talboys, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade of New Zealand, visited China in May 1979.
Rt. Hon. Robert David Muldoon, Prime Minister of New Zealand, visited China in September 1980.
Rt. Hon. David Russell Lange, Prime Minister of New Zealand, visited China in March 1986.
Rt. Hon. Geoffrey W. R. Palmer, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Justice, visited China in March 1987. The two sides signed the Agreement between the Governments of the People's Republic of China and New Zealand on Scientific and Technological Cooperation.
Rt. Hon. Don Mckinnon, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Minister and Trade visited China in April 1992. Premier Li Peng, Vice Premier Zhu Rongji and Foreign Minister Qian Qichen held separate meetings and talks with him.
Rt. Hon. James Brendan Bolger, Prime Minister of New Zealand, visited China in May 1993. President Jiang Zemin and Vice Premier Zhu Rongji held respective meeting and talks with him. Prime Minister Bolger addressed NZ-China Business Forum luncheon hosted by the New Zealand Embassy in Beijing. Vice Premier Li Lanqing attended the luncheon and responsed with a speech..
Rt. Hon. Don McKinnon, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade visited China in July 1995 at the invitation of Vice Premier and Foreign Minister Qian Qichen. Chairman of the National People's Congress, Qiao Shi, met with the visiting Deputy Prime Minister. Vice Premier Zou Jiahua hosted a welcoming banquet for him. Vice Premier and Foreign Minister Qian Qichen held talks with McKinnon.
Rt. Hon. Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister and Treasurer of New Zealand, visited China in September 1997. Vice Premier Zhu Rongji, Vice President Rong Yiren, and Ismail Amat, State Councilor and Chairman of Nationality Affairs Committee, held separate meetings with Peters.
Rt. Hon. James Brendan Bolger, Prime Minister of New Zealand, visited China in November 1997. Premier Li Peng held talks with Bolger. Vice Premier Zhu Rongji and Chairman of CPPCC Li Ruihuan, held separate meetings with him. Prime Minister Bolger attended the reception hosted by the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries in commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
Rt. Hon. Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister of New Zealand, visited China together with Tauranga city's goodwill delegation in February 1998. Chairman of CPPCC Li Ruihuan met with him.
Rt. Hon. Don McKinnon, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, visited China in October 1998. Vice President Hu Jintao, Vice Premier Qian Qichen and State Councilor Wu Yi held separate meetings with him. Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan held talks with his New Zealand counterpart. Both sides agreed to establish a mechanism for annual consultation on regional security at vice ministerial level.
Rt. Hon. Jenny Shipley, Prime Minister of New Zealand, paid a working visit to China in July 1999. President Jiang Zemin, Premier Zhu Rongji and State Councilor Wu Yi held separate meetings and talks with Shipley.
Hon. Jim Sutton, Minister of Trade Negotiations and Minister of Agriculture visited China in March, 2000 at the invitation of Mr. Shi Guangsheng, Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation. State Councilor Wu Yi, Mr. Zeng Peiyan, Minister of State Development Planning Commission and Mr. Chen Yao Bang, Minister of Agricultrue held separate meetings with Sutton, and Minister Shi Guangsheng held talks with him.
Hon. Phil Goff, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade visited China in August, 2000 at the invitation of Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan,. During his stay in Beijing, Premier Zhu Rongji met with Goff, and Minister Tang Jiaxuan held a talk with him.
H.E. the Rt. Hon. Sir Michael Hardie Boys, Governor-General of New Zealand, and Lady Hardie Boys paid their first state visit to China at the invitation of President Jiang Zeming from 30 November to 6 December 2000. During his stay in Beijing, President Jiang Zeming and Premier Zhu Rongji held separate meetings with him. He also met with Mr Xiao Yang, President of the Supreme People's Court of China. Hon. Parekura Horomia, Minister of Maori Affairs and Associate Minister of Education, who accompanied Governor-General Boys during the visit, met respectively with Mr. Li De Zhu, Chairman of Nationality Affairs Committee, and Mr Lu Fuyuan, Vice Minister of Education.
Rt. Hon. Helen Clark, Prime Minister of New Zealand paid an official visit to China at the invitation of Premier Zhu Rongji in April 2001. During the visit, she called on President Jiang Zemin, and held talks with Premier Zhu. She also met with Wei Jianxing, member of the Standing Committee of Politburo of the CPC Central Committee, and State Councilor Mme. Wu Yi. Besides Beijing, Ms. Clark also visited Shanghai and Hong Kong.
Hon. Phil Goff, Minister of Foreign Affairs of New Zealand paid a working visit to the Tibet Autonomous Region at the invitation of Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan in May 2001.
Prime Minister Clark and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Goff attended the Shanghai APEC meeting in October. President Jiang Zemin met with Clark, and Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan met with Goff.
Hon. Jim Sutton, Minister of Trade Negotiations leading a delegation of enterpreneurs, paid an official visit to China in March 2002。Mr. Sutton held talks with Mr. Shi Guangsheng, Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation.
As a special envoy of Hon. Jim Sutton, Minister of Trade Negotiations, Mr. Michael Green, deputy Secretary-general of Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, paid an official visit to China in October 2002. Mr. Green met with Ma Xiuhong, Deputy Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation, Zhou Mingwei, Deputy Director of the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, and Zhou Wenzhong, Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Hon. Jim Sutton, Minister of Trade Negotiations leading a delegation of enterpreneurs, visited Guizhou Province, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and Yunnan Province in December 2002.
II. Bilateral Trade and Economic Relations and Technical Cooperation
Since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries, China-New Zealand economic and trade ties have seen a stable and healthy development. Since 1990, bilateral trade has experienced a fast development.
The bilateral trade volume between China and New Zealand in 2002 totaled 1,399 million US dollars, an increase of 19.4% compared with the same period of the previous year, among which, the Chinese export increased by 37.1% with a total value of US$596 million, and import US$803 million, an increase of 9%.
As far as the commodity items are concerned, products China imports from New Zealand are mainly raw materials, with wool remaining one of the largest items of import. In recent years, China's export of electric and machinery products to New Zealand has increased rather rapidly, which further improves the commodity structure of China's export to New Zealand. With the growth of Chinese economy and the continued strengthening and development of the bilateral trade relations, China-New Zealand economic relations which was once dominated by a single form of trade have been broadened with cooperation developing on multi-levels and in multi-forms covering a wide range of areas. Being a traditional capital inflow country, New Zealand corporations also attaches great importance to the investment opportunities in China.
By the end of 2002, the number of New Zealand invested projects in China had totaled 675, with a contractual amount of US$573 million, actual investment utilized reached US$292 million. 20 China-invested trading entities and manufacturing enterprises have been established in New Zealand involving nearly US$1,030 million of Chinese investment.Today New Zealand has become one of China's biggest overseas investment destinations.
New Zealand's technical assistance to China, which began in 1989, has taken a form of direct assistance to project units. In 1990, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of New Zealand and the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation of China formally launched a comprehensive program for technical cooperation. In 1992, New Zealand decided to provide NZ$1 million of assistance annually to China .Since 1993, the two sides have explored and developed various forms of technical cooperation to promote trade and investment. In the same year, the two sides launched small-scale poverty alleviation projects in China. Although started at a later stage and in a smaller scale, China-New Zealand technical cooperation has developed in a steady way with flexible forms and effective results, enhancing the two countries' cooperation in the fields of forestry, animal husbandry, poverty alleviation and other fields of economic and trade relations. By the end of 2002, New Zealand's aid to China had totalled US$13 million.
III. Exchanges in Culture, Education and Tourism
Since the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and New Zealand, bilateral cultural exchanges have seen a continuous development.
From 1972 to 1980, there were a few exchanges of visits by the two countries' art ensembles and art exhibitions. Since China's reform and opening-up, the cultural exchanges and cooperation field between New Zealand and China has been broadened..
In 1981, New Zealand's Minister of Internal Affairs and Art visited China. During the visit, the two sides reached a verbal agreement on the 1982/83 cultural exchange programs. That visit was followed by the respective visits to China by the Director of New Zealand Elizabeth II Art Committee, and Secretary of the NZ Ministry of Internal Affairs and Art and by the visit to NZ by a Chinese Cultural Study Group. Since then, there has been a steady increase of contacts between the two countries' cultural officials as well as culture and art exchange programs. In April 1992, Mr. Liu Deyou, Vice Minister of Chinese Ministry of Culture visited New Zealand.
In 1996, New Zealand's Secretary of Ministry of Culture visited China.
In 1997, Ms. Jennifer King, Program Manager of Media and Culture of the New Zealand Asia 2000 Foundation visited China.
In 1999, Chinese Tibetan Performing Arts Troupe sponsored by the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries toured New Zealand and achieved great success.
In 2001, Li Gang, Deputy Director of Information Office of the State Council and Tsiring, Deputy Chairman of Tibet Autonomous Region visited New Zealand for the "Tibet Cultural Week" held there.
In September 2002, the Beijing Municipal Government and Wellington Municipal Government co-hosted the "Beijing Cultural Week" in New Zealand.
In December 2002, Wang Zhan, vice Minister of Education visited New Zealand, and met with Hon Trevor Mallard, Minister of Education. Mr Wang signed with Mr. Howard Fancy, secretary-general of Ministry of Education the China-New Zealand MOU on Cooperation in Education and Training.
From 1974, China and New Zealand began to exchange students. In June 1998, the New Zealand government announced that it would increase the quota for Chinese students to study in New Zealand up to 4000. In October 1999, the New Zealand government announced that it would set no limit to the quota for Chinese student to study in New Zealand.
New Zealand is the fifth-largest destination for Chinese students studying abroad. China is New Zealand's largest source of foreign students. By the end of 2002, over 40,000 Chinese were studying in New Zealand.
At the end of April 1995, after attending the annual meeting of Pacific Asia Travel Association, Mr. Liu Yi, Minister of the Chinese National Tourism Administration visited New Zealand and signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Tourism Cooperation between the National Tourism Administration of the People's Republic of China and the New Zealand Tourism Board. In November 1997, Chinese State Council approved New Zealand as an official tourist destination for Chinese tourists traveling abroad. In May 1999, the two sides exchanged letters on the implementation arrangements regarding that travel operation. The operation officially started in July.
In 2002, 58,741 tourists from China visited New Zealand, an increase of 10.8% compared with the previous year; and 50,198 tourists from New Zealand visited China, an increase of 13.2%.
IV. Military Exchanges
Before 1980, there were very few military exchanges between China and New Zealand.
In July 1987, two Royal New Zealand Navy frigates HMNZS Canterbury and HMNZS Southland visited Shanghai.
With the continuous advancement of Sino-New Zealand relations, relations between the two armed forces have experienced gradual development since 1990.
In May 1996, Mr. Xiong Guangkai, Deputy Chief of General Staff of the PLA of China made a working visit to New Zealand. He met with Rt. Hon. Don McKinnon, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hon. Paul East, Minister of Defense and held talks with Mr. Gerald Hensley, Secretary of Defense and Lieutenant General L. Birks, Chief of the Defense Force.
In March 1997, Mr. Gerald Hensley, Secretary of Ministry of Defense of New Zealand made the first ever visit to China by a senior official of the New Zealand armed forces, during which the two sides agreed to further strengthen the high level strategic dialogue and exchange resident Defense attaches.
1998 was a very important year for relations between the armed forces of China and New Zealand. In January, China's first resident Defense Attache arrived in New Zealand. In February, at the invitation of Hon. Max Bradford, Minister of Defense of New Zealand, Mr. Chi Haotian, Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission, State Councilor and Minister of Defense of China visited New Zealand and met respectively with Rt. Hon. Jenny Shipley, Prime Minister, Rt. Hon. Don McKinnon, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Hon. Max Bradford, Minister of Defence, Mr. Gerald Hensley, Secretary of Defense and Mr. L. Birks, Chief of the Defense Force. In April, at the invitation of the Royal New Zealand Navy, China's PLA Navy vessels "Qingdao" and "Shichang" made a port call to Auckland Port. This was the first visit to New Zealand ever by Chinese navy fleet. From late August to early September, Hon. Max Bradford, Minister of Defense of New Zealand visited China at the invitation of Mr. Chi Haotian, Minister of Defense of China and called on Mr. Li Peng, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress and held talks with Mr. Chi Haotian, Minister of Defense. In September, Air Commodore Smith, Air Officer Commanding RNZAF Air Command visited China as head of a delegation of Royal New Zealand Air Force Command and Staff College. This was the first visit to China by a delegation from New Zealand military colleges. In October, HMNZS Wellington and HMNZS Endeavor arrived in Qingdao. This was a return visit to the visit to New Zealand by China's Navy fleet in April.
In January, 1999, the first resident Defense Attache of New Zealand arrived in Beijing. In July, Mr. Chris Elder, Deputy Secretary of New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, came to Beijing and held the first China/New Zealand consulting on regional security with Mr. Wang Guangya, Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs of China. In November, at the invitation of the Ministry of Defence of New Zealand, Gen.Yu Yongbo, Director of the P.L.A. General Political Department of China, visited New Zealand and met with Hon Max Bradford, Minister of Defence of New Zealand, A.M. Kelly Adamson, Chief of the Defence Force of New Zealand, and R.Gentles, the acting Secretary of Defence of New Zealand. In December, at the invitation of the Headquarters of the General Staff of the P.L.A. of China, Maj. Gen. Maurice Dodson , the Chief of General Staff of the New Zealand visited China and met with Mr Chi Haotian, Minister of Defence of China. This is the first visit to China by the Chief of Staff of New Zealand.
In March, 2000, Lt. Gen. Liu Shunshun, the Commander of the P.L.A. Air Force, visited New Zealand and met with Hon. Mark Burton, Minister of Defence of New Zealand, A.M. Kelly Adamson, Chief of New Zealand Defence Force, and Mr Graham Fortune, secretary of Defence of New Zealand.
In October, 2000, A.M. Kelly Adamson, Chief of New Zealand Defence Force, visited China at the invitation of Chief of Staff Fu Quanyou. Mr. Chi Haotian, Vice Chairman of the Central Millitary Commission, State Councilor and Minister of Defense of China met with him, Fu Quanyou, Chief of General Staff, held talks with him and hosted a welcoming banquet, and Vice Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi also met with him.
In November, 2000, General Yuan Shoufang, Deputy Director of the General Political Department of P.L.A. led a military delegation of friendship for visit to New Zealand.
In April 2001, member of the Politburo of the CPC Central Committee, and Vice Chairman of CPC Central Military Commission General Zhang Wannian visited New Zealand, and met with Rt. Hon. Helen Clark, Prime Minister of New Zealand, and Hon. Phil Goff, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and acting Minister of Defence of New Zealand, A.M. Kelly Adamson, Chief of the Defence Force of New Zealand, and Mr. Graham Fortune, Secretary of Defence of New Zealand.
In September, Mr. Graham Fortune, Secretary of Defence of New Zealand visited China. He called on Vice Chairman General Zhang Wannian, and held talks with Deputy Chief of Staff of PLA General Xiong Guangkai.
In October, a PLA navy vessel formation visited New Zealand.
In November, Hon. Mark Burton, Minister of Defence of New Zealand visited China. He called on Vice Premier Qian Qichen, Vice Chairman General Zhang Wannian, and held talks with his Chinese counterpart General Chi Haotian.
In February 2002, Lt. Gen. Liu Shutian, Political Commissar of Guangzhou Military Area Command of PLA, visited New Zealand.
In March 2002, Qian Shugeng, Deputy Chief of the General Staff of PLA leading a military delegation visited New Zealamd.
In August 2002, the Sino-New Zealand consultation on security and disarmament co-hosted by Wang Guangya, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister and Michael Green, deputy Secretary-general of Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade was held in Wellington.
In August 2002, a delegation of New Zealand Command and Staff College, led by Brigadier General Clive Lilley, Deputy Chief of New Zealand Defence Force, visited China.
