Sir John Key, former Prime Minister of New Zealand visited China from April 28 to May 1. Mr. Gao Yunlong, Vice Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, and Mr. Feng Fei, Secretary of the Hainan Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China met with him respectively. Amb. Zou Xiaoli, Vice President of the Chinese People’s Institute of Foreign Affairs (CPIFA) was present at the meetings. Sir John Key was interviewed by the WeChat public account editorial board of the CPIFA. He shared his observations about China’s development and China-New Zealand relations:

"I visited China many times. There is tremendous potential in China. Whenever I come to China, all I see is rapidly growing and expanding technology capability. China has also done a lot in terms of environmental protection. There is a lot of improvement. Now people can almost see Beijing Blue everyday. The international business community is optimistic about China’s growth prospects. I believe there will be more and more people coming to China to invest and share the benefits of China’s development. 

The relationship between New Zealand and China is very strong. China is New Zealand’s largest trading partner. There is big opportunity for cooperation between New Zealand and China. In recent days, New Zealand people are thinking much more fondly about China. I am very confident in the future of New Zealand-China relations. I believe both people will benefit a lot from our cooperation, especially in this complicated time. 

The high tariffs are unsustainable, and will do harm to the international trading system. We hope the countries involved could find a way out. "

Sir John key also spoke highly of Hainan Free Trade Port. He said, Hainan Free Trade Port has broad development prospects and unlimited opportunities. He particularly highlighted that Key Capital setting up its China headquarters in Hainan fully demonstrates that all sectors in New Zealand are full of confidence in the development prospects of the Hainan Free Trade Port.