New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon attended the launch of a Tourism New Zealand brand campaign in Beijing on Friday, where new promotional initiatives and strategic partnerships were unveiled to enhance tourism cooperation between the two countries.
At the event, Tourism New Zealand, the marketing agency responsible for promoting New Zealand as a tourism destination internationally, introduced a fresh promotional campaign and announced two strategic aviation partnerships with airlines from both countries, aiming to strengthen New Zealand’s presence in the Chinese tourism market.
"We are backing that opportunity, and that's why we've invested almost 14 million dollars more with Tourism New Zealand to grow our international marketing presence, including right here in China," said Luxon.
Tourism is a key pillar of New Zealand’s economy and currently stands as the country’s second-largest export earner. China is New Zealand’s third-largest source of international visitors.
"In the last year alone, about 250,000 Chinese visitors came to New Zealand, and their spending increased by 147 percent. That's great news for our economy. But more than that -- it shows the strength of our connections," said the prime minister.
New Zealand is streamlining transit procedures and reducing costs for Chinese travelers in a bid to boost tourism and trade.
At the invitation of Chinese Premier Li Qiang, Luxon paid an official visit to China from Tuesday to Friday -- his first trip to the country since taking office in November 2023.
New Zealand PM attends tourism campaign launch in Beijing
Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said on Monday that the situation in Iran is "under total control" following violence linked to protests that spiked over the weekend.
Addressing foreign diplomats in Tehran, the foreign minister noted that armed terrorist groups had infiltrated the protests, attempting to divert them from their legitimate course. He claimed that evidence has been gathered showing Iranian security forces being shot at, with the aim of causing further casualties. He accused the United States and Israel of exploiting the unrest to interfere in Iran's internal affairs.
Araghchi further stated that the government is closely monitoring developments on the streets, emphasizing that "the situation has come under control." He also affirmed that internet services, curtailed during the unrest, would be restored after coordination with security agencies.
The government has engaged in dialogue with merchants and protest representatives and initiated reforms to address grievances related to price hikes and currency depreciation. Iran has taken a series of actions and measures to respond to the demands of peaceful demonstrators, the foreign minister said.
Earlier on Sunday, Araghchi said that clear evidence links recent riots and vandalism of public facilities in Iran to the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad. This came after former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo mentioned Mossad agents operating on Iran's streets in a social media post. The Iranian foreign minister asserted that police are being attacked by "terrorists" acting under the direction of Israeli operatives, whom Pompeo publicly acknowledged.
The protests initially erupted over a sharp depreciation of the rial and sweeping subsidy reforms. Iranian authorities have blamed the unrest on foreign-linked agents and U.S. sanctions.
Iranian foreign minister says situation "fully under control," accuses Israeli intelligence of stoking unrest
