Distinguished Mr. Martin THOMSON, Chairman of NZCTA,
Distinguished Mr. Brett O’RILEY, Chief Executive of EMA
Distinguished Mr. CHEN Xiaochen, Executive Deputy Director of Centre for Asia Pacific Studies, East China Normal University,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Good afternoon, everyone! Welcome to China-New Zealand Business Dialogue hosted by the Consulate-General of P. R. China in Auckland. This is the first event that I attend since I arrived in Auckland, and it is a pleasure to meet you all online in this beautiful spring of the Southern hemisphere. After three years of hardship, in this season of vitality and vigor, it is suitable to sow the seeds of hope and look forward to harvesting plentiful fruits in the future. All of us present today are practitioners and supporters of China-New Zealand economic and trade cooperation. I would like to take this opportunity to share with you about China's economic situation.
I am sure that you’ve all been following the just-concluded 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China(CPC). This Congress is of great importance at a crucial moment when China is embarking on a new journey to fully build a modern socialist country and marching toward the second centenary goal. The meeting makes it clear that from this day forward, the central task of the CPC will be to lead the Chinese people of all ethnic groups in a concerted effort to realize the second centenary goal of building China into a great modern socialist country in all respects and to advance the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation on all fronts through a Chinese path to modernization. The report points out that "high-quality development is the primary task of building a modern socialist country in all respects." By grounding our work in this new stage of development, applying the new development philosophy, building a new development pattern, we will uphold promoting high-quality development as the principle direction guiding China's economic development. By focusing on high-quality development, China has integrated the strategy of expanding domestic demand with the deepening of supply-side structural reform, strengthened the internal dynamics and reliability of the domestic circulation, improved the quality and level of the international circulation, and thus promoted the positive interaction between the domestic and international cycles.
China is an important stabilizer and power source for world economic growth. From 2013 to 2021, China's GDP grew at an average annual rate of 6.6 percent, higher than the average of 2.6 percent for the world and 3.7 percent for developing economies in the same period. China contributed more than 30 percent to world economic growth on average, higher than the contribution of all G7 countries combined. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the adverse international environment, the Chinese economy is facing considerable downward pressure. However, there are still many favorable conditions for China's development. The Chinese economy is resilient with great potential and full of vitality. The fundamentals of long-term sound development remain unchanged. Opening up to the outside world is a basic policy of China. The report of the 20th National Congress of the Party clearly designs the road-map of China's future opening-up. China will continue to promote high-level opening-up and steadily expand the institutional opening-up with regard to rules, regulations, management and standards. Although economic globalization is facing headwinds and currents, and very few countries want to decouple and break the chain, and build the so-called "small courtyard with high walls", China will unswervingly implement a greater, wider and deeper opening-up to the outside world. China is always a popular destination for investment. China and New Zealand share a common position and a sound foundation for cooperation in supporting multilateralism and free trade. The report of the 20th CPC National Congress for the first time puts forward the need to "maintain a diversified and stable international economic structure". We are ready to work with New Zealand to this end.
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of China-New Zealand diplomatic relations. After half a century, China-New Zealand relations have created many "firsts" and made historical achievements. Among them, economic and trade cooperation is the stabilizer and ballast of bilateral relations. China and New Zealand are economically complementary. With the signing of the China-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement in 2008, bilateral trade in goods, trade in services and investment cooperation have developed rapidly.
In 2021, China-New Zealand trade reached a new high of NZ$24.72 billion, about 5.6 times that in 2008 when the FTA was signed. China has been the largest trading partner of New Zealand for many years in a row. China's economic and social development and people's living standards have improved significantly, and the market demand for high-quality goods has steadily increased. New Zealand has unique advantages in agricultural products and service trade, which can better meet the high-level demand of the Chinese market. High cost performance and quality services represented by Chinese products provide Kiwi consumers with better choices and help improve their well-being. Economic and trade cooperation between China and New Zealand has brought tangible benefits to the two peoples and played a positive role in our successful response to the Covid-19 pandemic in both countries. The achievements of China-New Zealand economic and trade cooperation are inseparable from the support of both governments and the unremitting efforts of the business community. It is hoped that the business communities of both sides will seize the new opportunities brought by the entry into force of the Protocol to Upgrade China-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, vigorously expand cooperation areas, actively speak out for the development of China-New Zealand economic and trade cooperation, and promote positive interaction among the government, consumers, media and academia, so as to create more favorable environment for further strengthening bilateral trade and investment.
The world is undergoing profound changes unseen in a century, presenting unprecedented opportunities and challenges. The theme of this seminar, "Future-proof China-New Zealand Economic and Trade Cooperation", focuses on sub-national cooperation, e-commerce and clean energy. It is much in line with the need for high-quality development of China-New Zealand cooperation. There are now 42 pairs of sister provinces and cities between China and New Zealand, which have become important drivers of economic, trade and cultural exchanges between our two countries. For example, the active exchanges between Guangzhou and Auckland have enriched the comprehensive strategic partnership between our two countries.
China's digital economy has boomed in recent years. In the report of the 20th CPC National Congress, General Secretary Xi calls for building “Digital China”. China is building a highly inclusive digital infrastructure and accelerating digital industrialization, which brings more opportunities for foreign companies in exploring the Chinese market. Cross-border e-commerce is the fastest-growing form of trade in the Internet era. The potential for cooperation between China and New Zealand in this area is huge, creating more diverse development opportunities for small and medium-sized business and young people on both sides. The Working Group for China's Accession to DEPA was formally established. It is hoped that New Zealand, together with other DEPA members can support China's accession at an early date.
The report of the 20th CPC National Congress reaffirms the need to build a Beautiful China. China will pursue green and low-carbon development and promote harmony between humanity and nature, honor its "carbon neutrality'' and ''carbon peaking" commitments，endeavor to carry out coordinated green transformation, social and economic development. New Zealand has unique natural conditions, and Kiwis are nature-lovers and proud of environment protection. To achieve both economic growth and environment protection, clean energy is definitely the best choice. New Zealand has a long history of hydro and wind power generation. Although solar power started relatively late, it has developed rapidly and has promising prospects. We are delighted that China and New Zealand have had successful cooperation in solar power.
In the following time, we will invite representatives from the government, business and academic circles of both countries to introduce relevant industrial policies, business environment and share practical experiences on the topics of sub-national cooperation, e-commerce and clean energy. I hope that the speakers' insights will enlighten us, help us solve problems, explore business opportunities. I hope that our discussion can enrich bilateral cooperation. Let us work together to make China-New Zealand relations more beneficial to our two peoples in the next 50 years.
In conclusion, I wish the seminar a complete success and look forward to meeting you in person soon. Thank you !
