Visa-free travel to China for New Zealanders

China will extend visa-free travel to New Zealanders, Premier Li Qiang said during his trip to the South Pacific nation.

The two countries signed agreements on trade and climate change, with human rights also on the agenda, during the highest-level Chinese visit to New Zealand in seven years.

China is ready to discuss more measures to facilitate two-way travel and will extend unilateral visa-free treatment to New Zealanders, Li said, while New Zealand will support Chinese language teaching and cultural exchanges though Confucius Institutes in the country.

New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon is seeking to balance rights and security concerns with the lucrative trade opportunities offered by Beijing, the country's largest export partner.

"The Premier and I discussed our significant economic relationship, which benefits people in both countries with two-way trade in goods worth nearly NZ$38 billion (HK$183 billion)," Luxon said.

Li was greeted on the lawns of Government House in the capital Wellington by both Luxon and the governor-general, participating in a traditional Indigenous Maori welcome before heading inside for meetings.

"Given our different national realities and stages of development, it is natural we don't always see eye-to-eye on everything. But such differences should not become a chasm that blocks exchanges and cooperation," Li said.

Li said China hopes New Zealand can support Hong Kong in joining the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, a free trade agreement among Asia-Pacific countries.

While in the past New Zealand had a more moderate view of China, it has toughened its stance this year in calling out Beijing for hacking the country's parliament and noting the growing threat China poses to security in the Pacific.

"I raised with Premier Li a number of issues that are important to New Zealanders and which speak to our core values, including human rights and foreign interference," Luxon said.

Other issues discussed included the disputed South China Sea, China's bid to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership trade bloc and the AUKUS security alliance.

New Zealand, however, has largely avoided trade disputes with Beijing that have until recently impacted neighboring Australia, where Li heads next in a trip aimed at boosting China's standing in the region.