China's top legislator calls for more in-depth cooperation with New Zealand

China's top legislator Zhao Leji called for more in-depth China-New Zealand cooperation to strengthen strategic communication, expand practical collaboration, and advance the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries.

Zhao, chairman of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, made the remarks when holding talks with visiting Gerry Brownlee, speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives, in Beijing on Monday.

Noting that China-New Zealand relations have maintained sound momentum with fruitful results across multiple fields, Zhao stressed that China is ready to work with New Zealand to implement the important consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries, and to push bilateral ties forward.

Zhao said that mutual respect, inclusiveness, focus on cooperation and common development have been valuable experience gained since the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries more than 50 years ago.

He urged efforts from both sides to deepen understanding and trust, respect each other's core interests and major concerns, saying that China appreciates New Zealand's repeated pledges to uphold the one-China principle.

Zhao expressed China's willingness to work with New Zealand to focus on development and cooperation, thus creating new growth points for cooperation.

He also highlighted the importance of strengthening exchanges among youth and local communities, and enhancing coordination within multilateral frameworks such as the United Nations and the World Trade Organization.

China's NPC stands ready to work with the New Zealand Parliament to provide legal guarantees for bilateral cooperation, Zhao said .

He briefed Brownlee on the outline of China's 15th Five-Year Plan and its Ecological and Environmental Code, saying that China welcomes more New Zealand enterprises to expand their presence in the Chinese market.

China is willing to carry out experience exchange and practical cooperation with New Zealand in eco-environmental legislation, green and low-carbon development, and climate change response, he said.

Brownlee said New Zealand-China relations are highly mature, built on mutual trust and candid exchanges.

He reaffirmed New Zealand's commitment to the one-China principle and noted that cooperation in trade, new energy, education, youth and climate change has yielded fruitful results, with people-to-people exchanges playing an important role in bilateral relations.

Brownlee said the New Zealand parliament is willing to enhance friendly exchanges with China's NPC, deepen communication in areas such as legislation, strengthen mutual understanding and people-to-people friendship, and make positive contributions to promoting practical cooperation between the two countries.

At the invitation of Zhao, Brownlee is leading a delegation to China from April 12 to 16.

China's top legislator calls for more in-depth cooperation with New Zealand

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Monday called for a correct understanding of China in delivering a speech at the Tsinghua University in Beijing during his ongoing visit the country.

Sanchez, who was warmly received by the university on the occasion, referenced the story of Matteo Ricci to highlight the importance of perspective. He noted that when Ricci first arrived in China, the world map he introduced was centered on Europe, placing Asia at the margins and reflecting a clear bias. More than 400 years later, Sánchez said, some still view China and the world through similarly distorted lenses.

"There are those who insist on interpreting reality through a zero-sum lens, portraying the growth of some as a loss for others, or arguing that deepening certain relationships means abandoning others. But I believe this view is not only mistaken, but also dangerous, because it is immobilizing. It turns us into prisoners of the past and limits the possibilities the future offers us," he said.

Sanchez emphasized that the world today is increasingly multipolar and reaffirmed Spain's commitment to multilateralism. He called for cooperation based on mutual respect and for managing differences constructively.

"They believe that the multilateral world is dead, that it belongs to the past. And I want to say here that I profoundly disagree with that analysis. I disagree emphatically. I believe that global governance instruments worked in the 20th century, and that today they are more necessary than ever. I believe that a multipolar world needs a robust multilateral system, not to impose a single vision, but to turn the diversity of our perspectives into a strength for all of humanity; not to eliminate our differences, but to deal with them peacefully. If Spain, Europe and China were able to prosper together in the past, there is no reason to think we cannot do so again," said Sanchez.

At the invitation of Chinese Premier Li Qiang, Sanchez is paying an official visit to China from Saturday to Wednesday, which marks the prime minister's fourth visit to China within four years and another important high-level exchange between China and Spain shortly after last year's visits to China by the Spanish King and the prime minister.

Spain's PM Sanchez calls for 'clear-eyed understanding' of China