On November 21 local time, President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister John Key of New Zealand jointly attended the launching ceremony of the China-New Zealand Mayors' Forum in Auckland.

Xi Jinping pointed out in his speech that Chinese and New Zealand economies are highly complementary and the two peoples bear friendly feelings toward each other. The two countries have enjoyed close exchanges and yielded fruitful achievements in cooperation. The establishment of the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries has ushered in a new era of bilateral exchanges and cooperation. The China-New Zealand relationship is like an oil painting. How spectacular such an oil painting can be depends not only on the overall composition, but also on its detailed elements. The 30-plus pairs of sister cities between the two countries constitute an integral part of these detailed elements. China is now speeding up its new-type industrialization, informatization, urbanization and agricultural modernization, all of which have provided more opportunities for New Zealand and created broader space for the bilateral cooperation. I hope that the local governments of the two countries seize the opportunities and strengthen cooperation so as to paint a new picture of the China-New Zealand friendship.

John Key said that President Xi Jinping's current visit to New Zealand has promoted the establishment of the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries and filled the two sides with full expectations for the future bilateral relations. He hopes that New Zealand and China bring into play the role of sister cities, strengthen local cooperation, promote people-to-people exchanges, and constantly push the bilateral relations for new achievements.

After the launching ceremony, Xi Jinping and John Key jointly inaugurated the Bank of China (New Zealand) Ltd, the China Construction Bank (New Zealand) Ltd, the Oceania Production Base of Yili Group and the China-New Zealand Joint Laboratory Project for Kiwifruit Research, and met with principal members of the "Council for Promotion of China-New Zealand Relations", encouraging them to contribute more to the bilateral cooperation and exchanges.

Wang Huning, Li Zhanshu, Yang Jiechi and others were present at the above activities.